Revelations
by Noelle1230
Summary: Caitlan Willows, must find her father in the Capital Wasteland, while saving a few other people in the Wasteland to right the wrongs of a marred land. Eventual Butch DeLoria/FLW.
1. Prologue: Baby Steps

_Revelation 21:6 __ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely….._

Indeed the Wasteland was no place to raise an infant, more or less, a daughter of a mother who wanted to see her desperately. James' thoughts gravitated to the small child lying in his arms, the only reminder of the woman whom he cherished with all his heart; his daughter resting soundly and calm without a care in the world. He envied the ignorance his daughter had of what happened to her mother and hoped that one day she would understand that even though they never met, his daughter would know how much Catherine really loved her. _Oh Catherine,_ he thought to himself, _why leave me here with our child? I have no idea what to do._ He sighed and rested his face in the palm of his hand as he peered down at his child once again. Her downy soft chocolate brown hair fluttered in the breeze, and her grey eyes closed softly into a gentle slumber. It was true that in the gene projection, she did look immensely like her father but there was one thing that they didn't share that was their eyes, his were brown and hers were her mother's, grey. That was what he loved the most about his daughter, that somehow she carried the spirit of her mother through her eyes. He hoped that his daughter would be the embodiment of goodness and kindness, just as his wife was. He also hoped she would carry her intelligence, as it would be a shame to have someone over lower wit of their parents whom were scientists, and very accomplished as well.

James looked up at his new surroundings, it was indeed a change of scenery but it was the only safe option in the Wastes, or rather under it. It was no secret among the Wastes that there was only Vault in operation in the Capital Wasteland and perhaps even the entire U.S., and that was Vault 101 which its greatest reputation was the fact that it never opened under any circumstance, but James found that was not the case. In order to survive, the Vault had to be opened at least once, and James decided to take that chance after he left Project Purity, albeit reluctantly. The needs of his very young daughter came first even if he left the Capital Wasteland as desolate as it was. Trying to get in however was a different story, after many trials to get in, the Overseer of the Vault finally relented and let James in with his daughter, under two conditions. One, he was to be the Vault Physician, since they were in desperate need of a medical official in there, and two, that his daughter would have no knowledge of the outside world or that she was originally from the Wastes rather than a Vault born. James reluctantly agreed to these conditions, anything for the safety of his daughter. To his surprise there were several other young children around his daughter's age with families of their own, however due to a Radroach infestation recently as said by the Overseer, a few parents had passed away. Kenickie DeLoria and Marianne Almodovar, were among the casualties, leaving their children without one parent. _At least she won't be the only one, _he thought to himself as he rocked his daughter softly in his arms. Perhaps she could connect with the children here and won't feel like an outsider. He smiled at his daughter as she yawned with her little mouth and cooed. James decided it was bedtime for his little girl and carefully carried her to her small cradle in his room. Setting her down on her back, she moved just a little bit and made a few noises but soon she drifted back to sleep. James chuckled at his daughter rubbed her soft cheek, "Have sweet and safe dreams, sweetheart." He stumbled over back to his own bed getting ready to turn out the lights when he whispered to his daughter in the shadows, "I love you, Caitlan, goodnight, my dear."

_One Year Later…_

A year had passed and James looked at his daughter with pride. She was developing like a normal toddling infant, perhaps a bit more than expected, as here she was starting to walk before her friend Amata did. After settling in James acquainted himself with several people from within the vault such as Beatrice who helped James learn how to change Caitlan whenever she needed it, as well as Officer Gomez, Stanley Armstrong, and several others. Among them was Jonas Palmer, his new appointed assistant. He was lighthearted and helpful, and because of this James used him as his faithful helper to assist in testing the water around the Vault. Even though he left Project Purity behind, it was never really going away, in the back of his mind he could hear Cathrine pushing to keep her dream alive. But right now his thoughts remained on his infant daughter who made him smile as she tried desperately to waddle to her dad who was in the playpen urging his daughter to walk over

"Come on over here, sweetie. Come on! Walk to daddy." he said to Caitlan.

Her eyes lit up and her face spread into a smile, she walked and babbled as she got closer to her dad with each step. One right after the next she finally made her last step in front of her dad without breaking a sweat.

"There you go," James said with a huge grin, "My goodness, just a year old and already walking like a pro. Your mother would've been so proud" he lowered his voice at the mentioning of her mother, she was still too young to know of her mother's fate but eventually she would know. Remembering that he needed to pick up the results of the latest testing from Jonas.

"Listen, kiddo, I know you don't like it when Daddy leaves you alone, but I need you to take care of yourself for a minute." James said as he placed his child in the play pen. She looked anxious and a bit upset, she was always a bit of a daddy's girl craving his attention, but he resisted her heart melting gaze.

"Just stay here while Daddy runs to his office. You'll be okay, honey, I'll be back in a bit." He told her as he head out the door.

Quickly he headed down to his office when he heard a sudden commotion coming from the DeLoria residence. Curiosity ensued as James peered down the hallway to see what's going on, but was greeted by an all too familiar scene. Several times security officers would come down to check on Ellen DeLoria as she was deeply affected by the death of her husband, Kenickie DeLoria. Even though Ellen truly did care for this man, apparently it was not the case for the man. Kenickie was a womanizer, and pretty much had his way with any woman in the Vault due to his charm and charisma, from what James heard from the overseer, but that was probably an exaggeration. From Officer Gomez, Kenickie was a selfless man whose weakness was for the affection of women, he adored it, but it was incredibly looked down upon. When he and Ellen got together for a one night stand, she got pregnant and instead of leaving her, he decided the right thing to do was to marry her. After all, a man must be there for his child, so he married Ellen quickly after hearing the news, but to say he loved Ellen was an overstatement, he more or less tolerated her. He was essentially paying for the mistake of being an adulterer. After his son, Butch, was born he became a happier man, investing time into his child and playing with him, but that was shortly cut off when a Radroach infestation happen taking a number of casualties, including Kenickie and Amata's mother, Marianne. Although Amata was living a semi normal life, Butch's mother, Ellen was drowning her sorrows in another bottle of Vodka. James had detoxed Ellen before but she always seemed to find her vice somewhere. One of the officers was carrying little Butch in his arms, when James came over.

"What's going on here?" James inquired.

"Ellen's drunk as a skunk again. Butch is going to stay with the Mack's for a while." Officer Gomez.

"Again? You'd think that a mother would care for her son a little more." James said

"Yeah well, that's not Ellen. I've known her for along time and the only person she cares about is herself and her indulgences," Gomez sighed and stared at the child who was screaming and crying for his mama. "I have two boys of my own, to think she doesn't have a clue of what she's doing to her kid, it's quite sad."

"I guess, but its not my place to say." Said James, "two boys, huh?"

"Yeah almost a year apart, Johnny is the oldest, and my youngest is my wife's favorite, little Freddie. How's your kid? Caitlan, isn't it?"

"Yeah she's fine, already walking."

Gomez flashed a huge grin, "Really? That's amazing, any words yet?"

"No, she babbles but no words." James replied

"I'm sure she will."

Just then Jonas came around the corner with a clipboard rushing to the good doctor.

"Hey Doc, I got those results you've been waiting for." Jonas handed him the clipboard as he went over the findings quickly. After realizing how much time had passed James decided to head back to his apartment as he waved goodbye to his fellow Vault residents. To his surprise he saw his daughter, Caitlan, out of her playpen, with a book in one hand and a teddy bear in the other. The sight of him made her babble in joy as she sparked a smile across her and her father's face.

"Hahaha, you're quite the little explorer, aren't you?," he chuckled at his child, "Serves me right for trying to pen you in."

Caitlan walked over to her dad with her arms waving to be picked up by her daddy, and James complied, bent down, and placed her in his arms.

"Come on over here, I want to show you something." James walked a little ways to an end table with a Bible passage written in it.

"See that," James pointed at the frame, "It was your mother's favorite passage. It's from the Bible. Revelation 21:6; I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." James sighed, "She always loved that."

Caitlan touched her father's face lightly as he looked at his daughter, and suddenly she said, "Dada"

James teared up as he stared into his daughter's beautiful grey eyes that were once Catherine's, he smiled and gave her a snug as he carried her out of the vault apartment. "All right, come on. Let's go see if your little friend, Amata, wants to play."

_I will stay strong and not fall apart for her, and i will always be there for her, _he thought to himself, _just need to take one step at a time...baby steps…_

_**Hey guys this is my new story for Fallout 3, since I found my old one to be underwhelming, but if you want to see for yourself, you may. I feel as if I have improved as a writer and don't want to focus on the sappy aspects too much, but hey I like fluffy, when it's appropriate. So please read and review, I love good input as it does motivate me. Thanks!**_


	2. Prologue: Growing Up Fast

_**Five Years Later...**_

When they say that time flies when raising children, they weren't kidding. It had been five years since her birth, yet it felt like only yesterday that she was being held in James' arms, cooing and giggling at her father's faces that he made at her to make her laugh. But now here she was, a bright five year old girl getting ready for her first day at school. She was starting to look more and more like James, the dark chocolate hair, her facial structure, and even the way she talked, it had a hint of an accent, albeit barely. She was pretty smart for her age too, she liked to absorb as much as she possibly could, asking questions all the time to the point it was insanity. But the worst question was the question James had dreaded since day one.

"Daddy?" She said

"Yes sweetheart, what is it?" James replied to his daughter, she climbed up on his lap and looked at him with her grey eyes shining.

"Why don't I have a mommy?" James' heart fell at hearing this from his daughter. This wasn't unforeseen, afterall she was bound to notice that there was no one to call mommy around the Vault. James inhaled deeply and sighed as he prepared to tell his daughter that even he wasn't sure she know yet.

"Well, you did have a mommy, but...she went away." James said.

"Where?" James looked at her daughter again. At this age, death was a hard thing to comprehend, it was so definite, while life seemed infinite.

"Where we go when we...pass on. To heaven." James stated.

"Oh…" Caitlan was smart enough to know what that meant. "She's never coming back, is she?" She looked at James with deeply saddening eyes, her grey eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"No, she's not." James voice lowered as he looked at his daughter's sad face.

"Do you ever miss her?" She looked back at James. Somedays he wonders if she is really her age, like someone way older than she was in a five year old's body.

"Your mommy?" She nodded, James tsked and held onto his daughter tightly, "Oh sweetie...I...Of course I miss her. I miss her so much. Each day more than the last." He brushed a strand of hair out of her face looking at it while a tear escaped her eye. "But you know what makes me feel better? You."

"Me?"

"Yes, you make me feel very happy, sweetheart, to your excessive clumsiness, to your sharp brain. You make me very happy." He kissed her cheek as she giggled with joy. A small moment like that made James feel very special.

Of course that was only a month ago, and now his little girl was packing her favorite books in her book bag. She looked up at her dad with an anxious face and her body trembling. She was always a bit scared of new things so of course she'd be nervous on her first day of school.

"I'm ready." she squeaked.

"Haha, don't be nervous, sweetheart. All of us down here have all gone to school." He crossed his arms and chuckled at Caitlan as she gave a bit of sass back.

"Oh really? What about your first day?"

James, confounded by the question, rubbed the back of his neck. He, obviously, didn't grow up in the luxuries of the Vault, so he had no idea what, 'going to school', was like. "Ummm well, I was as nervous as you, honey, but I got over it and you will too, I promise." He lied.

"You sure, Daddy?" She asked.

"Of course, sweetheart," She jumped in his arms and hugged him tightly, "You'll be fine, now lets go" James offered his hand to his daughter as he walked down to the only classroom in the Vault, where there were a menagerie of parents with their children. Lucky for Caitlan, she would be going to school with a lot of children her age. Among them was her best friend. Amata Almodovar, whose father, the Overseer, was speaking with Mr. Brotch privately. Her face was bored and solemn, when Caitlan saw her. Amata's face lit up at the sight of Caitlan as she excitedly waved at her friend. Caitlan waved back with a huge smile on her face. James looked at the other parents in the room while Caitlan went to socialize with Amata. There was the Gomez family, Pepper and Herman and their two sons, Johnny and Freddie. Apparently Pepper intentionally held back Johnny so he could attend school with his brother, because Freddie was very shy and had social insecurities. Johnny on the other hand was a likable little boy, and very social and independent. He was very popular with all parents as well as children as he was also Caitlan and Amata's friend. The next were the Hannon's, Vikki and Paul and their child Paul Jr. sat in the middle of the room. Paul Jr. was considered a good kid, at least by his mother and Paul Sr., but Paul Jr. was quite insecure, following anyone who seemed popular. The Mack's and the Kendall's sat next to each other, both with absent fathers, because this was apparently a woman's job. Gloria Mack, a half Asian lady who was very softspoken despite her gossipy nature, was a beautiful woman who took pride in her appearance. She had with her Wally and Susie Mack her twin children. Wally was a complete copy of his own father, unfeeling and completely rude, a bully just like the Overseer. Susie was a spoiled little girl who felt entitled to anything, and since her mother rarely called out on her children, Susie and Wally got whatever they wanted. Mary Kendall, who was an almost an exact copy of her sister, Gloria, was more outspoken and highly critical of everything around her, including other people's children, with the exception of her sister's children. Her daughter, Christine, was almost the exact same as her cousin and best friend, Susie, with the exception that she was more sensitive, often mirroring her aunt, Gloria. Mary Kendall was actually about to have another child, as James had been taking care of her throughout her pregnancy, bragging to him about the wonderful names she and her husband were deciding upon.

There was, of course, one family that had yet to show, and as James thought about it there they showed. A fresh out of a hangover, Ellen DeLoria nudge her son, Butch, into the classroom. Caitlan had never met Butch, but heard of him a little at a time. He would sometimes stay at the Mack's or the Gomez family, since they had sons, because his mom would get so drunk. The Hannon's thought Butch was too much of a bad influence on their son Paul Jr., so he usually never went to their place. It was true, Butch had a very bad temper, he was often arrogant and tried to place himself above others even though his mother could barely provide for her son. Caitlan studied him from afar, he had dark brown, almost black, hair, and electric blue eyes, something rare for this day and age since mostly everyone had brown eyes. He had a pout on his lips as he made his way to the farthest desk in a back corner.

"If that's everyone, I'd like you all to take a seat." Said Mr. Brotch. James made his way to his daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's pick a seat, sweetheart." Caitlan gladly took her father's hand as they walked to the desk that was in front of Butch. He looked at Caitlan with narrowing eyes, he never saw her before. Why was she so cheerful? It was only school. As she started talking to her dad, Butch got insanely jealous, how come she had someone who cared about her? She was a wimp, a piece of crap. With her stupid brown hair and weird grey eyes, she looked so stupid. Make matters worse, she played with Daddy's girl, probably was the Overseer's best friend. Why was she special? Caitlan turned around and flashed her trademark cheerful smile and waved at Butch. Butch frown soured even more into a bad temper as he stuck his tongue out at Caitlan. Bewildered she looked away and whispered something to her father. Why would he care? Butch was strong enough to take on anyone, in his own mind.

"If the parents would like to say goodbye to their kids that would be appreciative." Mr Brotch said.

James looked at Caitlan with loving eyes and kissed her forehead, "Goodbye sweetheart, I'll see you later today. Have fun."

Butch's mom gave him a pat on his head and mumbled, "the door will be unlocked when you get home." No I love you or any term of endearment, just a goodbye. Butch was used to it, she was nearly always drunk, not that it phased him anymore. In fact she slipped him whiskey in his bottle when he was younger so he would stop crying in the middle of the night once. It was pretty hard to be the son of the Vault alcoholic.

As soon as class started, Butch was already bored, he didn't care about whatever Brotch said about the Vault or how safe it kept us. All he cared about was leaving and hanging with Paul and Wally, his pals. Wally and him were somewhat close but sometimes he could be a real ass, acting like he owned the joint. Butch was the oldest of the group so he had to lead. Paul was Butch's follower, and he liked it that way. Paul was someone he could tell anything to, and also tell him to do whatever he wanted. Everyone else in the classroom was a little different depending on who. Johnny Gomez, everyone liked, whether you were the arrogant Wally, or the anal Amata, even Butch got along with him well. His brother, Freddie, on the other hand was weird, Freddie the Freak, Butch called him. Susie and Christine were girly girls so they weren't at all interesting. Amata and Butch never got along, as Butch saw her as a prudish goody-two shoes, and Caitlan...well she was different. There wasn't anyway to explain it, she always seem to be a nice kind of person, but not to the point she was a pushover, she was smart for her age, and she just was different, something about her made her seem strange to everyone else in the room. When class was let out, Caitlan rushed out to meet up with Butch.

"Hi I'm Caitlan Willows," She said with a small grin.

"Whatever." Butch replied not paying her any attention

"You're Butch, aren't you?" Caitlan asked, "I heard a lot about you"

Butch turned around violently, grabbing the collar of her Vault jumpsuit, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Caitlan shocked and scared started to tremble, "I-I-I didn't mean anything by it, Johnny talks about you is all."

"What's he talk about, nerd?" he demanded

"Just that you're his friend." Butch let go of her collar as Wally stepped up behind him.

"Whose this? Nerdy girl, who's the Doc's daughter? I heard your dad is scum." Wally taunted.

"My daddy is not scum, he's a nice man." Caitlan fired back with an enraged face. Butch's eyes widened, she had serious guts to talk to Wally that way. Wally wasn't at all impressed.

"Oh yeah? Who said that?" Wally teased

"Ummm" Caitlan replied. Wally laughed menacingly as he shoved Caitlan onto the ground and kicked her straight in the nose. Caitlan's eyes welled up in tears as she felt a warm liquid flow down her nose, she looked down to see red blood splattered all down on her face. Wally laughed even more, and peer pressured into it, Butch and Paul, who just came behind them, laughed along

"Look at little Nosebleed!" Butch yelled, which caught the attention of Amata who rushed over to help Caitlan.

"What's wrong with you guys" Amata said with a furious tone. At that Johnny pushed the boys away with Freddie following behind.

"Come on guys, move." Johnny said to the boys, he gently picked up Caitlan, her tears flowing freely on her cheeks as she turned from a sad girl to an enraged one, and in that split second she gave a hard punch to Butch, right on his eye.

"Aggh!" Butch yelled in agony, clutching his eye, he looked at Caitlan with a menacing face, "you're gonna pay for that nosebleed!" He reached out to sock it to her but Johnny knocked him out with a sucker punch. Wally and Paul attended Butch as Caitlan looked at Johnny, Amata, and Freddie.

"Come on Caitlan, we'll walk you home." said Johnny.

Quietly they started to walk down the hallway, Amata left earlier than everyone, as her dad was asking for her via Officer Kendall. Caitlan leaned on Johnny's shoulder as they made their way to James' Doctor office. James who just assumed Caitlan was visiting him was very shocked at the sight he was seeing. HIs daughter's face covered in blood. Immediately he rushed over and picked her up onto the examining table.

"Sweetheart what happened?" James said while looking at her face to see what caused it to bleed so much.

"Wally." Johnny said in the background, "He kicked her in the face. She didn't do anything Doctor Willows. I walked her here because you can help her."

"Thank you, Johnny, you can leave now." Johnny left waving goodbye to his friend. James looked at his daughter and her crooked nose, obviously caused by Wally. James decided the only way to help it heal was to straighten it, and though it caused a lot of pain, Caitlan's nose was eventually straightened out, putting some gauze and braces around her to not disrupt her healing process.

"Now," James said, "Why did Wally kick you in the face?"

"Because he said you were scum, and I said no. It's my fault, I was trying to be friends with Butch."

"Butch?"

"Yeah but he laughed at me after my nose started bleeding, he called me names and stuff, so I punched him." James chuckled at his daughter but Caitlan didn't understand.

"Its a good thing you did, now he knows you can stand for yourself. Sweetheart, don't let these boys bully you around, you'll never hear the end of it."

As James was comforting his little girl, Butch came in with a huge black eye and his very annoyed mother behind him. She nudged her little boy into the room as he pouted at her.

"Butch, Ms. DeLoria, to what do we owe the pleasure." James said flatly.

"My son is here to apologize." Ellen DeLoria said. Butch looked at his mom angrily but she nudged him to face Caitlan.

"Tell the Doctor's daughter you are sorry for bullying her."

"But mooom-" Butch complained.

"Now Butchie!" she yelled. Butch huffed and muttered under his lips, "I'm sorry."

"There that wasn't that hard," James said, "Here," he placed an ice pack in Butch's hand, "That should relieve your swelling."

"Thanks." he muttered. Ellen grabbed Butch by the arm as they rushed their way out of the Doctor's office. She yelled about something about Mary Kendall shoving it about the way she talked about Butch but it was nothing important. James shook his head and smiled at his daughter who rolled her eyes.

"C'mon sweetheart, I'll ask Old Lady Palmer for a sweetroll and get you a Grognak the Barbarian to read. How about that?"

"I'd like that." Caitlan was then picked up by her father and they made their way back to their apartment.

_**Five Years Later…**_

Preparing for a birthday was such a rare thing in the Wasteland, in fact at times, most people never celebrated birthdays since there was no way to know because time and dates don't usually occur to Wastelanders. In the Vault everyone knew everyone's birthday. In Caitlan's class the oldest was Johnny Gomez born on November 20, 2257, then Butch DeLoria, born in December 27 of the same year, Wally and Susie were next, born February 16, 2258, and Christine Kendall, born May 8, 2258. Caitlan was smack in the middle, born on July 13, 2258, followed by Amata, born July 22, 2258, Paul was next, August 17, 2258, and lastly was Freddie, November 4, 2258. James had them all memorized, as did every adult, but the most important birthday to him was tomorrow. He'd been trying to keep this birthday party a secret from Caitlan, but that was always difficult, since Caitlan was extremely clever. She knew how to do a lot of things, some of her specialties were lockpicking and terminal hacking. She even hacked Butch's pip-boy once to shock him every few minutes in class. She was even learning medical care from her father, since she was always wanting to get her hands dirty and learn about something new about her world since life in the vault to her was very dull. She usually spent time with Amata, gossiping discussing girl stuff, their dads, and their favorite comic book series, Grognak the Barbarian. Whenever Amata was away though, she'd hang out with Johnny, her best guy friend, who liked to talk about nearly everything. Johnny was like an older brother that she wished she had. He actually taught her how to dance, in a latin flare, as a creative outlet. A lot of people thought that Johnny and Caitlan actually had crushes on each other, but that was not the case as Johnny was more interested in Amata and Caitlan could care less about liking boys, since most of them were idiots to her. James thanked God so many times for that, he wouldn't have to worry about Caitlan losing her mind over some boy for some time.

As he was decorating the cafeteria, with Caitlan's best friend Amata, setting up a nice birthday party for Caitlan tomorrow. It was nothing crazy like the Mack's had for their kids, just a simple party with her friends to come over. However since the Overseer insisted that Caitlan should learn to socialize more, James reluctantly invited all the other children, including the Macks' children, which James didn't agree with at all. However due to a stomach bug, Susie Mack and Christine Kendall couldn't come to the party. Not that it mattered, Caitlan didn't care for them anyways. As they finished the last of the decorations, James bid Amata goodbye and went to visit his daughter at home. There she sat with a worn out Grognak the Barbarian comic book in her hands and a half drunk Nuka-Cola on the coffee table near the couch she was on. She peered up from her book and smiled a beautiful smile and her grey eyes sparkling against the Vault's lights.

"Dad, where've you been? I looked for you at the Clinic you weren't there." Caitlan asked

"Um I was speaking with Jonas." James said, nervous as hell, "We were discussing a stomach bug that was going around."

"Really?" smirked Caitlan, "I think you're up to something, Dad."

"Me? Nah." James replied. Caitlan rolled her eyes as she made her way to her bedroom to retire for the day.

The next morning Caitlan received a note on her nightstand from her dad. She opened the note carefully as she read it outloud: _Good morning sweetheart, Happy Birthday_, _meet me in the cafeteria for a delicious meal. Love Dad. _

Caitlan hurriedly jumped out of bed and put on her Vault Jumpsuit, she zipped it over her t-shirt and shorts, and laced her boots, and after a quick brushing of her bobbed brown hair, she rushed off to the Cafeteria. To her surprise she saw a pitch black room in the window of the Cafeteria, curious she pressed the button to open the door inside. Cautiously she tip toed into the Cafeteria.

"Hello? Is anyone here? Dad?" As soon as she said that a bright light illuminated the room and a loud chorus of "Surprise!" ringed through the air. Caitlan smiled brightly, no wonder why her dad had kept it a secret for her, it was of course the most important birthday in a Vault child's life. As soon as they turn ten, Vault children are considered 'grown up' and are hired for jobs around the vault, usually small things. There had only been four birthday parties for ten year olds so far, and now Caitlan was joining them. She was so excited she felt independent and not a baby anymore. She looked around and saw her friends, Amata, Freddie, and Johnny were clapping and smiling, with Officer Gomez right behind them. Amata's dad was there too and the Vault handyman, Stanley Armstrong. There was some surprising people there too, Wally? Paul? Butch? What were they doing here? _Probably forced to come, _thought Caitlan.

"Stanley," Officer Gomez chuckled, "you turned the lights on too fast, you blinded the poor kid!"

Caitlan laughed, "Oh no it's fine, I'm a little shocked is all."

They rang in another round of Happy Birthdays, when Old Lady Palmer interrupted, "Can you believe it? She is growing up so fast."

James approached his daughter with a wide smile, she rushed over to give him a huge hug.

"Happy birthday, honey!" James exclaimed, "I can't believe you're already ten. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you daddy." she said to James.

"If only your mother.." As James was about to continue, the Overseer interrupted the special moment. To be honest, neither of the Willows got along with the Overseer, he was too uptight and really too controlling.

"Congratulations, young lady! I don't have to tell you how special this day is, do I?" He said to Caitlan in a proper tone, "Down here in Vault 101, when you turn ten, well, you're ready to take on your first official Vault responsibilities." Caitlan sighed in exhaustion, she really hated when the Overseer spoke in a "political" tone, it was really dull to listen to. Of course she knew what being ten meant, she didn't need to hear it from him.

"So here you are. As Overseer, I hearby present to your very own Pip-Boy 3000. Get used to it." Caitlan grabbed the object out of his hand and placed it on her left wrist. She smiled and thanked the Overseer for his gift, as he continued to ramble, "You'll be getting your first work assignment tomorrow. Ha ha ha ha ha." Caitlan rolled her eyes and looked at Amata who was signaling her father was crazy with a hand jesture. 

"Enjoy your party," James told Caitlan as he kissed her forehead, "you're only ten once, so have fun!" and with that he walked away as Amata, Johnny, and Freddie walked over.

Amata squealed as she jumped into Caitlan's arms, "Oof" Caitlan grunted when Amata crashed into her.

"Happy Birthday!" Amata cheered.

"We really surprised you didn't we, Cait?" Johnny teased as he ruffled Caitlan's hair as she giggled at him.

"Johnny! Don't mess with my hair." Caitlan whined as she straighten her hair back to its normal look.

"Happy Birthday Caitlan." Freddie said quietly, "You having a nice time?"

"Yeah, thanks Freddie. How did you keep this a secret?" Caitlan asked

"Ha ha ha, your dad was afraid you were onto us, but I told him not to worry." Amata laughed

"You're easy to fool, Cait" Johnny teased again. Caitlan smirked and playfully flicked his shoulder.

"Thanks Amata, this is really a great party, thank you all for doing this for me."

"You're welcome, but really your dad did the most of it. We just helped with decorations and stuff." Amata told Caitlan. Johnny came behind Amata and nudged her a bit with a wrapped gift in his hands.

"Oh right!" Amata remembered, "I bet you can't guess what we got for your birthday. Go on guess!"

"Hmmmmm" Caitlan thought to herself, "Well I don't know, anything could be that gift….I really have know idea…"

"Ha! I knew we'd surprise her Amata, give her the gift, I can't wait to see her face!" Johnny said. Amata handed the gift gently to Caitlan as she unwrapped it in front of their eager faces. Her face lit up at the sight of the cover of the book in her hands.

"Grognak the Barbarian!" She exclaimed. Amata's face smiled at her enthusiasm for her friend.

"Yep," Johnny replied, "That's right, Grognak! Issue 14, and with no missing pages."

Caitlan's excitement soared with that news, she almost never got a comic book without missing pages and the pristine condition this one was in, it was rare and a thoughtful gift.

"Where did you find this?" Caitlan asked.

"I found this in a box of my father's old things, believe it or not," Amata said, "Imagine him reading comic books. I guess everyone was ten once."

"Well," Johnny interrupted, "we better let you get back to mingling with your guests. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Alright, see ya" Caitlan said, "and thanks." 

"Happy Birthday." They said as they sat at the Cafeteria's bar. Caitlan then approached the Overseer who was drinking some water in a booth with Old Lady Palmer. Old Lady Palmer always brought a smile to Caitlan's face, she was like everyone's grandmother in the Vault, including even the bratty children, but she was really Jonas' grandmother, the assistant to Caitlan's father. Whenever she was sick or having a bad day, she'd visit Old Lady Palmer and have some of her delightful sweetrolls, they'd melt in your mouth and they weren't overly sweet, they were divine.

"Thank you sir, for the Pip-Boy," Caitlan said as she approached the Overseer.

"I hope you appreciate the effort Amata put into this party. She really seems to like you, for some reason."

"She did a great job, sir." Caitlan said flatly. She knew the Overseer didn't care for her, probably because Caitlan always had a flurry of imaginations of what life could be like if certain things in the Vault changed. Such thoughts enraged the Overseer.

"Good now run along with the rest of the children, make friends." The statement sounded more like an order to her. She sneered at the old man, father of Amata or not, he was awful. She was stopped by Old Lady Palmer with a gentle smile that only would melt the hearts of young children and Caitlan couldn't help but smile sweetly at the elderly woman.

"Are you having a nice party? Ten years old, my my my. Seems like only yesterday that your daddy came.."

Caitlan's ears perked up, "Came?"

Old Lady Palmer quickly changed the subject before Caitlan inquired more, "Goodness, listen to me ramble! You're waiting for your present aren't you?"

"Yes ma'am." Caitlan replied politely

"Such a nice, polite young lady you are, Miss Caitlan. Don't ever lose your gift of speaking your mind so directly. We could use more of that down here." Her eyes wandered to Butch who sat directly behind her, Caitlan giggled as Old Lady Palmer set something in her hand.

"Here you go, a nice sweetroll that I baked just this morning. And it's all for you, you're the birthday girl, no sharing required today!" She tenderly pinched Caitlan's chin.

"Thank you, Lady Palmer." Caitlan kissed her cheek softly.

"You're welcome dear."

Caitlan turned around and was shocked at the sight of Paul right in front of her, "Aw you got a pip-boy? I wish I was ten." he said to himself.

"Excuse me?" Caitlan asked.

"Nothing," Paul replied, "So um, Hey, uh, thanks for inviting me. Really cool party and everything."

Paul was a difficult character to read, at one point he was a sweet shy boy who wanted to please everyone. Other times he was one of the bullies in class, along with Butch and Wally.

"I know that, uh, Butch and I give you a hard time, but you don't take that seriously, do you?" Paul said.

"No of course not." Caitlan replied, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"Anyway, uh, happy birthday and everything. I better get back to, you know…" Paul was interrupted by Butch who was eyeing both of them across the room. Something in his eyes was strange in Caitlan's mind, was it envy. Of course not, probably that he was mad that Paul was talking with her.

"What? Is she your best friend now? Hey Wally, I think Paul's in love." Butch teased them, Caitlan's eyes narrowed on Butch who only smirked back.

"Yeah, Paul, why don't you introduce us to your new girlfriend?" Wally joined in as he snickered.

Paul was now the bully again, as peer pressure always got the best of him, "Who do you mean, dork-face here? Happy birthday, dork-face! Ha ha ha." He lightly punched Caitlan's arm as he walked away. Caitlan shook her head at them, the trio of bullies that terrorized everyone in the Vault. Whoever was worse depended on your opinion, Amata assumed the worst was Butch as he was the 'leader' of the group, but ever since he broke her nose, Caitlan always thought Wally was the worst. Nearly everyone felt sorry for Paul who was always following their lead. Caitlan had to greet them though, it was bad manners to not do so. Reluctantly she went up to talk to Wally.

"Hello Wally." Caitlan gritted through her teeth.

Wally crossed his arms and scoffed at the room, "This party is pretty good I guess, for a little kid, balloons, party hats. Not as cool as mine and Susie's party though. Remember how my dad got Andy to do magic tricks? And we all played Hunt the Mutant in the Atrium.."

"Well I wasn't…" Caitlan started

"Oh right, you weren't invited to our party! Too bad, it was really fun." Wally snorted a laugh. Caitlan rolled her eyes, Wally really was an arrogant jerk who help his father on a pedestal, and he was way worse.

"Hey Bu-" Caitlan was starting to say to Butch but he rudely interrupted her.

"Nice party, butt-head. Now get lost before I have to make you cry, Weeping Willows." Caitlan rolled her eyes, she was really regretting being nice to these boys, they were a bunch of jerks. She went up to her dad at the bar.

"How's it going, sweetheart?"

"Butch and his 'gang' are a bunch of jerks. Why did they come?"

James sighed as he looked at his daughter, "sometimes you have to learn how to make friends with people, even if you don't care for them. I know you don't care for them but at least try.

Caitlan exhaled loudly, "fine" she grunted as she made her way to Stanley Armstrong.

"How do you like that there Pip-Boy, Miss Caitlan? Fit alright and everything?" Stanley asked

"It's really cool, Stanley, did you fix it up for me?" Caitlan replied

"As a matter of fact, I did. I'm glad you like it. Some may think the A series a bit basic, but I've always preferred them for their reliability."

"Thanks Stanley." Caitlan flashed her charming smile as Stanley nodded back.

"Don't mention it," he replied as he pulled a hat out of his pocket, "I almost forgot. Happy Birthday! It's not much, but I hope you like it." Caitlan smiled as she placed the cap on her head.

"Fits well, Stanley, I'll wear it next time when we play baseball in the atrium." Caitlan told him.

"Attention everyone, it's time to cut the cake," Andy, the Mr. Handy robot said as he brought his saw to the cake.

"Andy wait!" Amata exclaimed but it was too late as he accidently split apart the cake in several pieces. Caitlan, was splattered with a piece of cake on her face and licked it off her chin.

"Mmm vanilla, my favorite." Caitlan said as she and Amata laughed about the destroyed cake.

Caitlan was about to go greet Officer Gomez when she was stopped by Butch DeLoria, with a very angry look on his face.

"I'm hungry and that stupid robot destroyed the cake!" He yelled

"So what am I going to do about it?" Caitlan asked

"Give me that sweetroll, you got from Old Lady Palmer." Butch tried to grab the pastry from out of Caitlan's pocket. Caitlan out of impulse shoved Butch hard that he fell in his seat in the booth.

"Go soak your head Butch, I'm not giving you my sweet roll!" She asserted herself. Enraged Butch charged at Caitlan.

"Oh yeah, we'll see about that!" Butch was about to swing a punch when Officer Gomez pulled him back.

"Butch! Stop it! Hitting a girl? And on her birthday too? Go sit down!" Officer Gomez plopped Butch into his seat as he pouted and glared at Caitlan. Caitlan could care less about what Butch was thinking about her, it didn't mean a thing to her.

"I'm sorry, Miss Caitlan, did he hurt you?" Officer Gomez asked

"No, Officer Gomez, I'm fine, I can handle it."

"Good, I know people like Butch and they prey on those who are weak and they won't quit messing with you if you ignore it. I'm glad I can help you. Anyways, happy birthday missy!"

"Thank you sir." Caitlan walked away and noticed her dad at the intercom and decided to see who he was talking to.

"Hey dad, whatcha up to?" Caitlan asked.

"Hey, sweetheart," James replied, "that was Jonas on the intercom. He and I have been cooking up a little surprise present."

"Another surprise?" Caitlan asked

"Mhm," James replied, "Jonas is waiting for you downstairs on the Reactor level. Go ahead, I don't think anyone will mind if you slipped out for a few minutes." He winked as Caitlan made her way to the Reactor. Down the stairs she went passing metal walls after metal walls until finally she met up with Jonas.

"What are you doing down here, young lady? I thought kids weren't allowed down on the Reactor level." He teased

"I'm not a kid! I'm ten years old!" Caitlan exclaimed

"Hahaha. You sure are! Pip-boy and everything, look at that? If you can just wait one more minute, I think your dad will want to give you the surprise himself." As soon as he said that James came right up behind his daughter.

"Are you ready for your surprise?"

"What kind of surprise?" Asked Caitlan.

"The Overseer gave you your Pip-Boy, and you're old enough to do some work. So I figure you're old enough for this." James grabbed a long object behind one of the metal walls, a rifle of some sort and placed it in Caitlan's hands. Shock and awe was painted on Caitlan's face, as she quickly inspected the gun.

"Your own BB gun, It's a little old, but it should work perfectly. Jonas found it down here. It was in pretty rough shape; took us a good three months to find the parts to get it working again. You know how tough it is to find a spring that small? Good thing Butch 'misplaced' that switchblade of his. Ha ha ha." James said

"So what do you think? Want to give it a try?",Caitlan looked puzzled at her Dad.

"Here? We can't shoot a gun here." Caitlan said

"We sure can't. Unless we want the Overseer beating down our door. Jonas and I have found a place though, c'mon."

James walked a little ways to a door that led to a spacious room with three gun targets in the far end of the room. Caitlan rushed down to the back of the room looking at the targets much closer in person.

"Well what do you think?" James asked

"This is amazing dad!" Caitlan said

"You can come down here and shoot anytime you want."

"This is so great, Dad. Thanks!"

"Couldn't have done it without Jonas' help. Be sure to thank him."

Caitlan eyed the targets with a patient eye. She aimed with her gun and precisely and accurately shot one target right after the other. James was impressed, his daughter was hitting the targets without breaking a sweat, she was hitting all of them like she had trained to do so her entire life. _This was normal for kids to do in the Wasteland, _James thought to himself, but he rushed the thought out of his head. Caitlan couldn't and shouldn't know about the outside world, it was best for her to stay here where it was safe.

Caitlan shot her last target when a figure crawled from under one of the targets. It was a giant bug, with its antennas flicking and moving as it crawled closer and closer to Caitlan.

"Careful," James said sternly, "its a Radroach, think you can take care of it with your BB gun?"

Caitlan nodded as she aimed her gun at the bug and shot it twice until it finally laid dead on the Vault floor.

James approached his daughter, "Good work, that's one less Radroach to worry about. Let's get a picture together, capture the moment."

"Okay dad." She held onto her father as Jonas prepared the Camera.

"Smile." Jonas said and a flash sent out, James looked at his daughter with a huge grin.

"C'mon, Caitlan, let's go back to your party."

A few hours later Caitlan found herself back in the Reactor gun range shooting at the targets, pretending she was a hero saving a town from danger. She dreamed of a life of freedom and living the way she wanted, away from the life in the Vault. Most girls her age in the Vault dreamed of having a prince charming and raising their 2.5 children in the Vault baking and cleaning all day. That life was far from what she wanted, she wanted to be a physician or a psychiatrist in the vault, or hell, even an Officer like Officer Gomez sounded cool. She didn't want to get married as all the boys her age didn't interest her at all. She just wanted to live life with a little danger, it was a thrilling dream. As she was getting ready to shoot another target a very familiar voice rung out behind her, one that she didn't want to hear.

"Whatcha doing here, Nosebleed?" Butch said. Caitlan turned around with a annoyed look on her face.

"I was going to ask you the same thing, Butch."

"Don't tell me what to do! I'm still mad at you for not giving me that sweetroll and I think you deserve a knuckle sandwich." Butch swung a huge punch at Caitlan but she dodged it in a hurry as he fell on the ground.

"Aggh!" He yelled, "You're going to pay for that!" As soon as he said that a Radroach appeared right behind him with its pincers clipping.

"Butch, you need to get out of here...now." Caitlan stayed still hoping not to disturb the Radroach into attacking Butch.

"Why? I ain't through with you, Nosebleed!" Butch got up from the ground and the Radroach pounced onto his shoulder and nipped him good on his neck.

"AGGGGHHH! MOMMY!" He yelled as ran around trying to get it off. Caitlan had no choice but to shoot the Radroach while it was on Butch's back. Two shots, bang bang, and the Radroach fell onto the ground. Butch looked at Caitlan with fear as she was looking at his wound. Luckily it was just a superficial wound but there was a blood stain on his neck and jumpsuit. Butch had not stopped looking at her funny and it was really strange. Caitlan had never seen him this scared before, she was getting worried, but then she felt something jump on her back. She fell on the ground as a Radroach started to attack her face. With her BB gun thrown across the room, Caitlan had no choice but to fling the Roach away from her, but the roach bit her hand cutting deep into it with blood seeping out quickly. Butch didn't know what to do, he didn't like Caitlan but he couldn't live with himself if she'd die without his help. Without thinking he quickly grabbed Caitlan's BB gun, and as he looked up he saw the Radroach pouncing onto Caitlan. Quickly he shot the roach multiple times until it collapsed in her lap. She threw it off and backed away as fast as she could.

"C'mon, Cait! Let's go!" Butch yelled as he lifted her off the ground. They both ran out of the the room as fast as they could and made their way back upstairs. It was just the two of them now, exhausted and bloodied up. They looked at each other, it was the first time in forever that they had worked together in anyway. They just were shocked at what they were doing, who knew that they were so compatible. Butch looked away first handing Caitlan her BB gun.

"Here this is, uh, yours, Nosebleed." Butch said quietly.

"Thanks Butch," Caitlan said, she hugged Butch afterwards which shocked him completely. What shocked him more was how much he enjoyed the embrace. He'd never been really hugged before, at least not with a lot of care or feeling. When his mother hugged him it was she was completely drunk, and that never counted. Butch hugged back, though it felt really strange.

"No problem, Nosebleed," Butch said.

Caitlan dug for something in her pocket and put in Butch's hand, "Here I owe you something for saving my life," Butch just looked at her with genuine eyes for the first time ever. "I know you'll go back to who you are after this is done, but I just want you know that it was real brave what you did, and I'll never be able to thank you." She kissed his cheek gently as his face flushed a deep crimson as he touched his cheek softly where her lips had laid. Before he could say anything back, Caitlan was already gone. He looked down and unwrapped the gift she had given him and he smiled to himself. It was a sweetroll.

_**Oh Lordy Lord that took forever! Anyways I hoped whoever reads this enjoys this chapter. Read and Review!**_


	3. Prologue: Future Imperfect

_**Three years later…**_

At thirteen Caitlan was a lot more interested in learning a little about everything, especially on her mother and medicine. She would help her dad in the clinic whenever she could and even started to take care of a few patients with minor ailments or cuts and bruises which would happen sometimes when the Tunnel Snakes would get into trouble. Ah yes, Butch's "gang" that would terrorize the other kids and freak out the parents, it was inevitable that Butch would do so in Caitlan's mind. Did she expect him to stay nice to her forever after that night on her tenth birthday? Hell no. But what did surprise her is the lack of bullying she received from Butch afterwards. There was still the name calling and the teasing, but out of all the kids he terrorized, Caitlan's abuse was less severe than anyone else, including Johnny, who was somewhat friends with him. It was a secret truce between the two of them, they never told anyone about that night when they saved each other and worked together, all they said was there was Radroaches down there, and after a few days of extermination, the threat was gone. Butch got some stitches thanks to a Radroach bite and Caitlan got a few scratches and bruises, but overall they weren't seriously hurt but Butch developed a fear of them that only Caitlan knew about. It wasn't a lie that Caitlan did feel a bit sympathetic towards Butch than any other person in the Vault, he had the toughest life and she had a gentle heart. Butch's life at home was not the best, his mother was almost always drunk and with no one to truly watch him Butch usually wandered around the Vault aimlessly causing trouble to anyone and everyone. Butch to her wasn't a bully but a person calling for help and no one there to help.

Today was just like any other school day in the Vault for her, she got up early and ate her Sugar Bombs as she got ready for her day at school. She looked at herself in the mirror and brushed her perfectly straight hair that went past her shoulders and draped them softly and made sure the rest of herself was completely ready for a day at school when she heard a knock on her apartment door. She rushed over to the control panel and open the door to see Johnny, Freddie, and Amata there to greet her.

"You know for a girl who doesn't do make-up, you sure take a while to get ready." Johnny teased with his new deep voice.

"Whatever Johnny. Did you finish your math homework?" Caitlan asked.

"Well yeah but it took me hours. is being pretty unfair about these homework assignments."

"I'll say." Freddie grumbled, "He really makes us miserable."

"Really? I found it easy." Amata chimed in, the three kids all glared at her at once, "What?"

Caitlan shook her head, "I found it okay, I mean it was challenging but I really don't like math, I'd rather do a science project or a history lesson."

"How could you have issues with it, Cait, you're the smartest kid in class." Johnny said

It was true, Caitlan was pretty smart, even smarter than some of the adults in the vault, but she never liked to brag about it. She hated being pointed out as different, it wasn't her fault that she knew a lot about things.

"Sure, yeah." Caitlan rubbed her neck as she was embarrassed by that comment.

When entering the classroom it seemed as though Susie and Christine were already there with Wally and Paul sitting in the corner talking smack. Three years changed a lot of people physically especially the girls. Susie and Christine were insanely pretty in their own way, Susie was more of a bombshell with her striking blond hair in a ponytail and her hazel eyes that were crazy seductive to all the boys in class, and her body, well let's just say puberty hit her like a bus. Christine on the other hand was a more "beauty beauty" girl, her ebony hair was perfect in her Domestic Goddess style and it was shiny from every angle, she was loud and outgoing and she loved to party. She was the apple of Freddie's eye mostly but since she didn't want to be caught dead with him, she was off and on dating Paul. Amata was fairly pretty, puberty was hitting her gracefully,but Caitlan, she was still transitioning, she hadn't yet developed a figure and although her face was pretty, she was nothing in comparison to the other girls. The boys had changed too, Johnny mostly, he looked more like a man and he was easily the handsomest man in class, he had an extremely charming smile and demeanor with beautiful amber eyes and lightly styled black hair. He was tan and muscular and every girl, with the exception of Caitlan, swooned whenever they saw him. Freddie was skinnier and a bit more pale, but he was slightly good looking all the same. Wally was very muscular, he needed to keep up with his manly upbringing and had a military cut hair, he didn't really care for girls he thought they were worthless. Paul was like Freddie, more skinny than muscular and he had very glossy did up hair in a pompadour kind of style, kind of professional. However one person was missing, and just as she thought about it, Butch came right from behind Caitlan ruffling her hair and snickering. Out of all the boys, Caitlan found Butch the most interesting in appearance; he recently found pomade so his hair was nearly all greased up and combed to perfection. He was tanner, probably due to his Italian ancestry, and his blue eyes, well to Caitlan, were the most unique to Butch, not even his silly hair could top that. Caitlan giggled to herself, it was a silly hairdo in her opinion and at times she wondered how much pomade he layered in that hair to make it as glossy and greasy as it was.

"Class let's sit down!" Mr. Brotch interjected over the classrooms many conversations. Caitlan didn't realize that all the seats were taken until she looked around and afterwards she found the only seat was in front Butch. She sighed as she made her way to her desk, but wasn't aware of Butch's leg extended outward to trip her and she fell on the ground.

"Oof" she grunted, she turned her head around quickly as her eyes narrowed on the boy who snorting in laughter along with the rest of the class.

"Watch where you're going, nosebleed!" Butch teased as he snorted out loud. Caitlan kicked him hard in the shin as he swore under his breath "shit", and she smirked.

"Yes well, let's begin class." Mr. Brotch said, "Everyone bring out your homework and place it on your desk, I'm going to see who did or did not do their arithmetic, if you didn't remember points will be taken off." Mr. Brotch went around the class checking each desk, when Butch whispered in Caitlan's ear.

"Hey, nosebleed."

"Yes, Butch," Caitlan said without turning around. If she were to guess he was going to ask for her answers.

"Ya didn't get hurt too bad did ya?" he whispered back. Caitlan's eyes went bewildered as she turned around.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Miss Willows! Eyes forward." Mr. Brotch said, "Mr. DeLoria, refrain from teasing Miss Willows."

"Sure thing Mr. Brotch." He teased. Caitlan slumped in her seat as she whispered back furiously.

"You trying to get me in trouble?" Butch rolled his eyes

"Whatever, you don't gotta be pissy ya know. I was just wonderin'" Butch crossed his arms and huffed a deep breath as Mr. Brotch passed by his desk and checked off his work. Mr. Brotch then checked of Caitlan's work right after and leaned down to her eye level.

"Do you want to be moved somewhere else? I know Butch gives you a rough time."

"No, Mr. Brotch, I can handle it." Mr. Brotch nodded as he got up in front of the class and started to review the work they did last night.

"Pssh, teacher's pet." Butch whispered.

"Whatever Butch, at least I try to be nice, while you usually don't give people a chance."

Butch huffed, "Why does that matter, no one in the Vault really cares about me here. You've heard the adults."

Caitlan sighed, "You know, there are people who do care about you, you just don't see it."

"Yeah right, it's easy for you to say, everyone in the Vault likes you." Caitlan softly chuckled

"You must be silly if you think everyone here likes me. Wally and Susie don't, hell the Overseer doesn't like me."

"A lot of people do though."

"There are people that care about you."

"Oh yeah, nosebleed,, who?"

"Well..um.." Caitlan was really hesitant to say her name to give him the wrong idea about her but he interrupted.

"Yeah, thought so, nosebleed." Mr. Brotch heard Butch talking to Caitlan.

"Mr. DeLoria, would you mind telling me why the answer to question number three is 20.5?"

"Uh," Butch stammered, "Cause...you divided by...zero?"

"No, Mister DeLoria, that is not correct. Tell me. Are you really that stupid?" Mr. Brotch chastised Butch. After that Butch was pretty quiet for the rest of the day and when class ended Caitlan tried to talk to Butch after class.

"Butch?" She asked with a sympathetic tone. Butch just rushed away, without saying a word. Her eyes softened at him, she really did feel for him, it must be hard the life he was living, she could almost cry. Her thoughts were interrupted when Johnny, Freddie, and Amata came up behind her.

"What is their problem, anyway? So I'm the Overseer's daughter? So what? Like I get any kind of special treatment!" Amata was complaining again, as Caitlan noted. She cared for Amata but sometimes the 'I'm normal, even though my dad is powerful' talk gets really tiresome.

"What's wrong, Amata?" Caitlan sighed.

"That stupid Wally Mack kept making fun of me all of class, saying I get all the special treatment in the Vault, that's not true."

"Amata," Johnny exhaled with a slight annoyance, "you can't expect everyone to believe that."

"Well they should, I'm treated like everyone else here. Even Brotch gives me the same crap as Butch."

"That's just Brotch being Brotch." Freddie replied.

"You guys don't understand, I'm going to the Cafeteria." Amata walked away with Johnny following close behind.

"You going with her?" Johnny asked Caitlan. Caitlan wanted to but she wanted to catch some alone time.

"Nah, I'll catch up with you guys later, take care of her for me." Caitlan waved goodbye.

"Will do, Cait." Johnny rushed to catch up with Amata.

Freddie, unsure of what to do rushed a goodbye and caught up with his brother and Amata leaving Caitlan alone in front of the classroom. Oddly enough she felt better walking home alone than with her friends, it was really a strange feeling. She felt so free being alone, away from the struggle of trying to fit in with the Vault, conforming to rules. It may look like to most people that Caitlan was well adjusted, but she felt trapped in a metal bin, she wanted to live her life without a linear path sent for her. Caitlan thought to herself about these things and decided to head to her room to grab her BB gun and secretly go down to the reactor, she made her way down the steps and opened the door to her firing range and was surprised to see a figure sitting on the floor, a very familiar figure.

"Butch?" his head perked up, "What are you doing here?"

"What does it matter to you, nosebleed? I can hang out wherever I want! I'm a Tunnel Snake, and we rule!" He yelled at her standing above her petite examined his face, there were tear stains on his cheeks and his eyes were red, deeply contrasting his blue eyes.

"Butch, you don't have to play this game with me. We both know that isn't you." Caitlan spoke in a calm. Butch's angry face died down into one of frustrated yet calm manner, huffed and plopped down on the floor. Caitlan kneeled down gracefully next to him and looked at him softly.

"How come you get everythin', and I have nothin'?" Butch said.

"Maybe, for starters, try to be a bit nicer?" Caitlan suggested. Butch turned around with an incredulous face of annoyance and attitude.

"And ruin my reputation as a badass? Hell no. Why do you even care?"

Caitlan lifted Butch's face to face her own, "Because you aren't as worthless as you think you are. Afterall someone has rally in those Tunnel Snakes everyday and tease people on mundane things to make the class laugh." She smiled when she heard Butch's snort.

"I guess ya right nosebleed." He said as he ruffled her hair.

"Hey!" Caitlan reacted with brushing her hair back down, "What was that for?"

"For getting me in trouble." Butch let out his switchblade pressing it in and out as he smiled. Caitlan then came up with a brilliant idea and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Perhaps, if you want, you can come down here and hang out with me if you ever want to just get away from the life in the Vault, and you can discuss anything with me. Is that okay?"

Butch's face almost sort of lit up, he never felt so...welcomed by another human being, he was starting to realize why people liked her so much. She had such an open, caring heart it was almost a weakness but she was sensible. She was so sweet to him, he never could understand that, and he really didn't care. She was the first the person to make him feel like himself, underneath his rough exterior. He smiled and nodded, "As long as ya don't tell anyone about me being nice to ya, don't wanna seem like I'm going soft." He smirked.

"Fine, as long as you say the same about me, I don't want to seem like I sympathize with you." Caitlan took her BB gun in her hands and approached the targets, before she shot at any she turned around and motioned for Butch to come over. He got up and stood next to her, as she placed the gun in his hands.

"What the hell?" Butch said

"Try it, we might as well do something while we chat, you don't want to seem like a complete dumbass with a gun, do you?"

"Pssh no." Butch pumped the BB gun aimed and started shooting the targets. There they stayed for the entire rest of the day shooting as many targets as they could and talked about everything. The Tunnel Snakes, the Overseer, his friends, her friends, and all the silly things in the Vault. It was fun, until of course Caitlan ran out of her supply of BB's for that day. THey promised each other that they'd try to meet everyday and use a code system of whether or not they'd show up: If Caitlan said the phrase 'Tunnel Snakes' towards him after class, she'd meet up with him, if she said 'Overseer', she wouldn't. Butch had a like system, if he said "Get outta here nosebleed', he'd agree with the meet up, and if he said 'Daddy's girl,' he'd understand the fact she wasn't going to be there. They were getting ready to leave when Caitlan grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait, Butch," Caitlan said, "I think you should let me out first, if we want to keep this all a secret we should exit separately."

"Good thinkin', nosebleed." Butch nodded. Before she left, she gave him a hug and a smile. She then exited leaving Butch alone again and after a few minutes Butch followed suit.

_**Three Years Later…**_

Caitlan sighed as she looked in the mirror. She was really upset lately, due to stress about the G.O.A.T. while also having a dramatic change in hair styles. When she was working on an experiment with her dad, she had accidentally added too much gas to a Bunsen burner and it blasted fire into her hair, deeply singeing it. As a result, she had to chop her long locks and was now rocking a pixie cut, albeit a thick one. However she hated it, she hated not being able to have hair, and the fact that the Tunnel Snakes were always making fun of it was not making it easier. She hoped her hair would grow out soon, but she couldn't say the same enthusiasm for the G.O.A.T., she was a bundle of nerves. She was so scared that she really wanted to stay home, anything really to make her stay. No sixteen year old girl should ever have to take a test to decide her future. So of course she decided to pay her dear old dad a visit to say she wasn't feeling well.

"Hey dad," She said with a slight tremble in her voice to try to sound convincing. He looked up from his computer, and looked over her.

"What's the matter sweetheart?" he asked.

"I'm not feeling so well." She put emphasis on her abdomen as her dad perked up from his seat and checked her thoroughly and to her disappointment she was busted at her attempt to be ill.

"As far as I can tell you're a perfectly healthy sixteen year old girl. So yes, you have to go to class to take your G.O.A.T. Exam."

Caitlan looked on the floor in defeat, "But…"

"Go on now, you've got a G.O.A.T. to take."

Caitlan sighed, "if you say so, dad."

"Hey, it's not my call. Those are the rules. You're sixteen now, so this year you take the G.O.A.T."

"Dad it's life changing, I don't necessarily like this, I mean I can barely handle changing my hairstyle, how do you think I'm going to take it if I'm going to be a fry cook or something worse, like being a domestic engineer." Caitlan shuddered at the thought of being a stay at home woman, holding down the fort for a husband. She was not that kind of woman, that was for someone who actually enjoyed that.

James patted his daughter's back, "C'mon, it's not so bad, everyone has to take it, you'll do just fine."

Caitlan sighed and looked at her dad seriously, "anything I need know?"

"The Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test. G.O.A.T.! Everyone here in the Vault takes it when they're sixteen." That was true, in fact it was the youngest person in her class, Freddie's birthday, they all waited for him. But that still made everyone on edge especially Freddie who was extremely emotionally distressed to the point he wanted to join the Tunnel Snakes to gain popularity and Christine's heart. "Helps to figure out what sort of job you'll have here in the Vault when you're a bit older. So, pay attention and try not to fall know what the Overseer says: 'We are born in the Vault, we die in the Vault. Each is tested to determine their abilities, that they may work for the betterment of all Vault residents.' Sound familiar?" 

"Dad? Do we have to die in the Vault? Can't we ever leave?" The words that were spoken from Caitlan's mouth frightened James. He had put her here in the Vault for a reason and just because she was rebellious, she wanted to go in the Wasteland. However she didn't know how dangerous a place that was there. It changes people and not usually for the good. Saying these words was almost as bad as going against the Overseer, she could be arrested for such talk.

"That's not the way it works, Caitlan," He spoke, "And it won't do to go around asking questions like that. Especially not around the Overseer."

"Dad we shouldn't act like this, you know it. Just because the Overseer is saying these things are mutiny, doesn't mean we should act like they don't exist!" Caitlan replied angrily.

"Shh," James shushed his daughter, looking around his clinic to see if anyone heard what his daughter said. Seeing that it was clear, James turned to his daughter with stern eyes, "I want to tell you something now. It's important, so listen closely: this place, this Vault….it's not perfect. But it is your home. You're safe here, stay on the Overseer's good side and you always will be. You understand?"

Caitlan huffed upwards and rolled her eyes, "Sure

James sighed, she was indeed as stubborn as her mother, always trying to do what was right no matter what, even going against tyranny. "You need to appreciate all you have. Because what's up there, on the outside, that's not the life I want for you, and its not what you mother wanted for you, either. All you mother and I ever wanted for you is for you to be safe, and your safe here."

Caitlan was silent for a moment and looked at her dad softly, "Can we talk about...you know, mom?"

James was used to talking about Catherine to Caitlan nowadays, every now and then he would tell Caitlan about her mother, and even showing what she looked like to Caitlan, through pictures and description.

"Your mother? She...she was beautiful. But...beyond the beauty you've seen and heard. There's just so much those old photos can never show. And she was passionate. About life, about love. But most of all, most of all she was passionate about you." Caitlan smiled, she felt sorry she could never meet her mother and often guilty for her death, but James never blamed Caitlan, it was never her fault. Childbirth was often a violent experience and without medical technology, it was often fatal. "When she became pregnant with you, it was the happiest I had ever seen her. Ahhh….she had great things in mind for you…" James rattled on, but soon realized Caitlan was running out of time to go to class, "And so! Time for you to stop stalling and get to class! Please honey, please take these achievement tests seriously. The last thing I need is your mother's ghost to haunt me because her only child became a-a garbage burner."

Caitlan laughed as she gave her father a hug, "Okay, goodbye dad."

"Take care sweetie," He kissed her forehead, letting her leave, "Now, get out of here, and good luck."

Caitlan made her way out of the clinic seeing Jonas attend to Stanley who was having yet another round of sickness in the past few weeks. She was still nervous despite her father calming her down a bit, she couldn't help but think she was going to ruin her life if she answered wrong. She was so scared that when Freddie appeared right next to her she jumped out of her skin.

"Hey Caitlan, you okay?" Freddie said clutching Caitlan's shoulder.

"Oh I'm fine, just a little jumpy." She nervously laughed rubbing the back of her neck.

"You too, huh? I can barely concentrate." Freddie conversed as they walked to the classroom. He was noticeably shaking almost as bad as Caitlan.

"I'm too scared of ruining my life, it's nerve wracking."

"Please Caitlan, you're the smartest person in our class, how are you going to ruin your life?"

"I don't know, I just have that feeling." Caitlan was interrupted by the sound of the Tunnel Snakes harassing Amata. Freddie was watching with confusion, but was too scared to do anything. And without Johnny here to defend Amata, she was a perfect target.

"Go inside, Freddie, I'll handle this." Caitlan told Freddie as he walked into the classroom. She sighed looking at Butch and his gang. Many things had changed to Butch and his gang in the past few years, he and his members had gotten their hands on leather jackets with a snake painted on the back. Butch had gotten himself a girlfriend, Susie Mack to be precise, much to Wally's dismay. He absolutely hated Butch for dating his sister, but he tolerated it. Christine and Paul were still off and on and Wally was single still. But the annoyance factor of the group was higher than their younger days, they all bragged about sex and how they 'rule' and some other stupid shit that Caitlan found pointless. The easiest way to get rid of them was definitely through Wally, get him upset and he will leave, but not too upset, that would trigger him to attack her, which he would do without hesitating

"Hey! What are you doing Mack?" She said approaching Wally behind his back.

"Don't mess with the Tunnel Snakes twerp!" Wally said. She could see Butch eyeing her from across the way but not completely unfocused from Amata.

"Why don't you leave her alone, Mack?"

"Why don't you mind your own business? Last I checked, you weren't a Tunnel Snake." Wally hissed in her face, "Run along kid, before Butch and I think you're a problem."

"You got a problem with, Amata?" Caitlan asked menacingly.

"Stay out of this, Willows, this is Tunnel Snakes business. Me and Butch are just havin' fun with this chick, you know before her boyfriend shows." He winked which made Caitlan sick to her stomach.

"Johnny won't like what you're doing to Amata, Mack, he will not go down without a fight."

"So what, spaz? He's as big as a pussy as you are." He shoved her a little bit, causing Butch to shift uncomfortably.

"I see, Butch is the leader and you're just his follower." Caitlan smirked

Wally, obviously offended, struck back, "I don't follow anyone. Wally Mack is his own man. And the Tunnel Snakes is where I belong. Why? You think Butch is in charge? Is that what people are saying? Because it's a load of shit, if that's what they're saying."

Caitlan smiling at her progress continued, "I've heard you do anything he tells you, and I mean anything" Her eyebrows arched in a mocking manner as if to say he did illicit things with Butch. This drove Wally over the edge.

"What? What kind of shit is that? No one talks that way about Wally Mack!" Caitlan preparing to get hit was surprised when he just kept yelling, "He's not the boss of me! Nobody's the boss of me! I'm out of here." He turned around and faced Butch who was talking about his 'Tunnel Snake' to Amata.

"We're done here!" Wally told Butch with a threatening look in his eyes. Butch who turned to face Wally with the same look as he was giving him replied.

"Done? We're not done until I say we're done"

"Don't know who put you in charge. I say we're done. Let's go Paul." Wally motioned Paul to follow him in the classroom. Caitlan flashed an apologetic face to Butch, she knew he wasn't going to be happy about this later. Butch just got himself off the wall in an annoyed manner.

"Fine I was done here anyway," Butch said, he eyed Amata up and down, "This ain't over daddy's girl," After that he brushed shoulders against Caitlan, "I'm not finished with you either, nosebleed." Caitlan watched him leave, kind of used to the way Butch treats her now. Despite getting to know each other, growing into their teenaged years drifted them apart especially since Butch started dating Susie. It hurt a little bit but she knew she still had other friends besides Butch.

"Thanks for getting rid of them. Assholes." Amata said as she approached Caitlan.

"It's no big deal, they were getting out of hand." Caitlan said. From the corner of her eye, she saw Johnny rush over to them. He gave a kiss to Amata and a hug to Caitlan.

"I'm sorry, I'm late I had to help mom with some errands." Johnny said.

"We should probably head in." Amata said holding hands with Johnny as they walked in together. Caitlan followed suit as Mr. Brotch handed her the sheet of paper that would determine her future.

"Well you made it. All set for the G.O.A.T.?" He asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Caitlan replied with little confidence.

"Trust me, it really isn't that bad. Just something everybody has to go through."

"Alright then."

"Listen, Miss Willows, if anyone's going to have a bad result it won't be you. You need to have faith, you'll probably pretty high on the list for the next Vault Physician, should your father retire and you want to take his spot. It wouldn't hurt to ask the Overseer, even though he doesn't particularly uh…"

"Like me, Mr. Brotch?" Caitlan finished for him.

"Sure we'll go with that," He replied, "We'll start as soon as everyone's found a seat. Good luck, Miss Willows."

With that she went to her usual spot in the front of the classroom and sat at her usual desk, right in front of Amata. She peered over to her left as she saw Butch messing with his toothpick, which was a switchblade, as he flirted with Susie who was totally wooed by his appearance. She couldn't help but feel a little left out, he had been spending a lot of time with Susie rather than her, and it felt a little sad. She felt like she could help Butch realize that he wasn't some greased up bully but rather a nice young man with a difficult past. She shook her head, Susie was anything but good for him, she was incredibly self absorbed and liked to brag to everyone that she had a bad boy for a boyfriend. It made her sick that Susie was that mean. But she tried to focus instead on her test, she needed to.

"Well, now that everyone has managed to find the classroom, we can finally get started," Mr. Brotch said, "No talking, and keep your eyes to yourselves." Caitlan heard Butch's snickering from across the room. "Yes, I'm talking to you Mr. DeLoria!" Mr Brotch scolded him

"Sure thing, Mr. Brotch." He replied in a playful manner.

"Unless anyone else has an insightful comment, let's get started." Caitlan took a deep breath as one by one they brushed through each question. Caitlan took it seriously answering every question truthfully and with much reason as possible. Finally the test was finished and Caitlan could breathe a sigh of relief as they were the most stressful ten questions in history.

"I'm sure most of you didn't find it so bad. Others, well, there are always openings in the maintenance department. Don't forget to hand in your test before you leave. You don't want to know what happens to people who 'fail' the G.O.A.T., you can have the rest of the day off to celebrate or to pray, as the situation warrants."

Everyone got up, with the exception of Freddie who was still finishing up his test, and stood in line to turn in their G.O.A.T.'s. Amata was first.

"Here you are, Mr. Brotch, I hope I did okay." She said nervously.

"Nothing for you to worry about, Miss Almodovar. Let's see...Very well done, looks like its the supervisory track for you."

Amata clearly relieved, smiled at Mr. Brotch, "Thanks, see you tomorrow."

After her was Johnny Gomez, who scored the Pip-Boy programming job. Caitlan was getting more nervous that she hardly realized Butch cut in front of her. "Move outta the way, nosebleed." he said. He turned to Mr. Brotch with a smirk on his face.

"Yo teach, I'm done."

Mr. Brotch with a wide smile retreived Butch's test, "Ah, Butch. Can I admit I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time? Allow me to savor the moment." Butch rolled his eyes as Mr. Brotch looked over his test, "Really? Interesting? You've surprised me, Butch. I didn't think you had it in you. Hairdresser! Who would've thunk it?"

Caitlan snorted a laugh behind Butch, he turned around violently to give her a cold hard glare. "You're so full of it! That isn't true!" He shoved Caitlan out of the way as he made his way out of the classroom. Next was her, and she dreaded her fate, anything that didn't make her look bad would be great. She anxiously gave Mr. Brotch her test as he looked at it intensively.

"Wow. Wow. Says here you're going to be the vault's Marriage Counselor. Almost makes me want to get married, just to be able to avail myself of your services." Mr. Brotch joked.

"Marriage Counselor?" Caitlan asked.

"Yeah, you know kind of like psychology, so I guess you did well, Miss to know that the G.O.A.T. occasionally gets it right, you know what they say about monkeys and typewriters...well I'm glad things turned out so well for you. I hope your classmates find their results half as satisfying."

"I guess that's not that bad, thanks Mr. Brotch." Caitlan replied, exhaling a long held in breath as she exited the classroom seeing Butch leaning against the wall. He took a long drag of a cigarette that he was inhaling and exhaled it out near her.

"Well nosebleed? Whatcha want?" he said

"Where are your_ tunnel snakes_, Butch?" She asked hoping he'd get the message. He laughed and smiled at her in a mock menacing tone.

"Just _get outta here nosebleed_" He said with emphasis on the last part. She nodded and walked away making her way towards the reactor's shooting range. She opened the door and grabbed the BB gun from behind the crate and a case of BB's as she made her way to the targets, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. She opened to see Butch's face which was lit up in a friendly smile, one that was unfamiliar to most people.

"Hey there, nosebleed. Whatcha want?" Butch said to her as he entered the room.

"How are you holding up?" Caitlan inquired.

" Bout what?" Butch asked.

"The G.O.A.T.?"

Butch's face soon soured, "Oh yeah, that. The damned test said I'm supposed to be a hairdresser, but that ain't me."

"It isn't" Caitlan smirked.

"I'm a barber, you got that? There's a difference!" Caitlan laughed at him, he could be really unbelievable at times.

"Ya know, you didn't tell me what you got?" Butch said, playing with his switchblade in his hands. He looked at her softly with his electric blue eyes, that even Caitlan would admit were insanely handsome.

Caitlan sighed, "I got Marriage Counselor." Butch snickered as Caitlan looked at him with annoyed look.

"What, Nosebleed? It's funny! You don't really know anything' about relationships, let alone marriages."

"Well I don't want to know anything about marriage personally, I don't want to get married."

Butch's eyes widened and looked at her in shock, "What? Like ever? So you ain't gonna have relationships?"

Caitlan looked at him seriously, "Butch, I don't care for anyone in the Vault in that way. I never have. I want to explore and see things I haven't seen before, I want to just survive a nuclear apocalypse, I want to live and experience the things that most people haven't here I want to le…" She almost said it, she almost said she wanted to leave. Butch stared at her with knowing eyes.

"I know what ya mean, Nosebleed." Caitlan was scared now. She had only told her father about this, no one else would ever would have her trust other than him, only one person, and he was sitting on the floor right next to her.

"You're not going to snitch me out are you?" Caitlan asked tentatively.

Butch scoffed as he grabbed a cigarette out of his jacket pocket, lighting it up with a match and then inhaling the smoke, "Why the hell would I snitch on you, Nosebleed?" he exhaled letting the smoke drag out of his mouth.

"You know those are really bad for your lungs, Butch." Caitlan smiled.

"Like I give a fuck, Nosebleed." Butch replied.

Caitlan smiled and shook her head as she grabbed her BB gun, "You haven't lost your aim have you?" she joked.

Butch inhaled the cigarette again and exhaled the smoke right back out, "I haven't lost anythin', Nosebleed, I'm still a better shot than you."

Caitlan laughed hysterically, "You can't be serious, I'm way better than you'll ever be."

Butch took one last drag of his cigarette and dropped it on the floor, stepping on the butt to extinguish the embers. "Wanna bet?"

Caitlan handed her gun to Butch as they took turns shooting the targets one by one. Caitlan had to admit, Butch was pretty good with a gun, he had great aim and he shot faster than she did. But Caitlan was better with it, she was a jack of all trades with it, aiming, shooting, and reloading. They ended up shooting the BB's until Butch received a ping on his Pip-Boy.

"Dammit, Susie's tryin' to figure out where I am?" He said.

Caitlan was disappointed they couldn't hang out more but she relented, "Go ahead, she's your girlfriend afterall."

Butch groaned, "Yeah my doll, alright."

Caitlan looked at him puzzled, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothin', Nosebleed. I gotta go, smell ya later." Butch rushed out leaving Caitlan alone again, _ha naturally, _she thought to herself.


	4. Prologue: Flame in Your Heart

_**Warning! Adult Language and Themes in this chapter. Read at your own discretion!**_

_**Three Years Later...**_

At eighteen years old, Caitlan had changed quite a bit in the past three years. Her hair grew back fast and her body had finally grown into a more adult form. She was skinny but held an hourglass figure. She wasn't nearly as much of bombshell as Susie Mack was and not nearly as stunningly beautiful as Christine Kendall, but she had grown prettier over the years. Hell, even Paul would flirt with her sometimes, since he finally gave up on having any kind of relationship with Christine. It did make her feel nice, but she didn't want to enter any relationships. Amata was fine in hers, with Johnny, they were practically made for each other, and Freddie was trying his best to swoon Miss Kendall, but for Caitlan, she was fine being by herself. She didn't have much to choose from out of the free guys, there was just Paul, who wasn't that great of a guy as he followed Wally and Butch all the time, and there was Wally, who Caitlan never got along with and usually became the subject of his abuse. The taken guys, she could say the same, Freddie was just a friend and so was Johnny, and Butch...well she wasn't sure what to think about him. Most of the time they were friends, they spent the majority of their time bonding in the reactor gun range, and the other times they argued and teased each other in the classrooms. But she never thought of him that way, he was Susie's man and he had all his attention on her whenever she was in the room. Caitlan never hated the idea of love, or being in love, she just never wanted it here. No one made her heart soar, as Amata would put it,or being hopelessly devoted to someone as Freddie was. She wanted whatever her father had with her mother, just love and adoration until the end. No man ever had that...no-

"Miss Willows!" Mr. Brotch yelled. Caitlan's ears perked up. I must've got lost in my thought, she thought to herself.

"Yes, Mr. Brotch?" She asked

"You seem a bit distracted, do you understand the assigned reading of Brave New World?"

"Yes sir, I do." Caitlan had the luxury of Mr. Brotch usually accepting her excuse. Perks of being a Teacher's Pet. The rest of the day they just discussed the book until a topic about the Prom, came from Christine Kendall. In the Vault there were strict rules on Prom, it was the only day that they got to get out of their jumpsuits and into pre-war clothing, and there was a party in the atrium for them to dance to a number of pre-war music. But the worst part was one of the rules.

"Is it true that you have to have a date to participate?" Christine asked.

Mr. Brotch sighed, deeply annoyed by the question, "Yes, you must have a date to participate in Prom, the Overseer's rules."

The rule was placed since the Overseer was trying to extend the life of all of the Vault by marrying off everyone by age twenty, so to help them romance, they must go to Prom with a date or don't go at all. It terrified Caitlan, she didn't want to be a part of some human breeding project, even if it was Amata's father's idea. She was having mini heart attacks about the thought of marrying any of the men, but the other girls were thrilled like Christine and Susie. Even Amata was somewhat okay, but she had Johnny with her, she had a reason to be okay with it. But Caitlan couldn't be more terrified. By the end of class people were already setting dates up, and before Caitlan asked Freddie to go with her to the dance, a woman with ebony hair appeared in front of Freddie, blocking Caitlan.

"Hey Freddie poo." Christine flirted with Freddie.

"H-hey Christine." He stammered. Caitlan rolled her eyes, their infatuation with each other was nauseating.

"I would really like to go to Prom, but I don't have a date, I really am at a lost." Christine said.

"I could go with you!" Freddie exclaimed.

"Oh you would? Oh thank you sweetie!" Christine kissed his cheek as he blushed furiously. Once she left she gave Freddie a hard stare.

"What?" He replied.

"I thought we made an agreement to go to Prom." Caitlan said

"Well yeah, that was before Christine started noticing me. I'm so happy Cait, you don't even know it!" He exclaimed happily. She couldn't really argue with that, he had been infatuated with Christine since they were kids so she really didn't want to ruin his excitement. Caitlan sighed as she looked across the room to see Butch and Susie fighting again. Although they were the bad boy/bad girl couple and they seemed perfect for each other, they were always conflicting on their differences of opinions. Susie was getting pretty overprotective of Butch since she felt like she was the person to have him forever, but Butch felt like she was being constricting. Caitlan could agree to an extent but Susie just wanted him to understand how much he meant to her. Susie liked Butch, Caitlan knew that, but she wasn't sure if it was love or in love with his bad boy demeanor. Their fighting got more intense as Caitlan listened on, it was hard to keep out of your head.

"Butch, you're acting like a child." Susie complained

"Well you're actin' like a fucking bitch! Why can't you understand I need my space, doll?"

"You know what? If I wanted this abuse I would've talked to Wally or Stevie, not some asshole like you! I'm sick and tired of your bullshit, DeLoria!"

Everyone in the room went dead silent. Caitlan was shocked, was Susie doing what Caitlan was thinking she was doing? She couldn't, Caitlan thought to herself, Susie and Butch have been an item since well ever. They couldn't have decided now upon all days to just end it, could they?

"Your sick and tired of it? I'm sick and tired of your nagging, you ain't my wife!" Butch retorted with much anger in his voice. Caitlan felt her heart drop, even though they were the 'bad' couple, it was one of those couples you couldn't help but fall for. But here it was and she was witnessing what looked like the end.

"The hell I am, Butch! Fuck all your tendencies, I'm so fucking over you, you piece of shit!"

"You're over me? I've been over you for a while now, get the hell outta here, Mack!"

Susie held in her angry tears as she rushed out of the classroom, and everyone's eyes were on Butch, who seemed teething in anger. He soon noticed he was the center of everyone's attention in the room. Amata, Freddie, Johnny, Christine, Paul, and Caitlan were all staring at him, and being Butch he yelled at them, "Whatcha lookin' at!?"

"Nothing" Everyone replied as they continued to be in their own little world. Caitlan didn't feel comfortable being there and decided to leave only to be joined by Butch at the exit. Looking back to see if anyone saw him, he turned to Caitlan and whispered in her ear quickly, "Meet me in the Reactor chamber." He then took out a cigarette and lit it, rushing away from her towards the atrium. Caitlan took his advice and walked to the reactor chamber area as fast as she could but was surprised to see that Butch wasn't there. So she waited and waited, and an hour past, at times she would message Amata through her Pip-Boy messaging system and heard what happened after the terrible break up that occurred in the classroom. Apparently Paul and Susie were now going to Prom since she wanted to show Butch she didn't need him anymore, and also that any man would want her. Butch wasn't taking it well and he got in fight with Wally after he had heard what Butch had said to Susie, which almost caused Caitlan to get out of the room and find Butch, but it seemed he had come to her, and he looked like shit when he stepped through the door. His face was painted in a menagerie of black and blue, his nose was crooked and he was clutching his side and walked with a limp.

"Butch! What the hell?!" Caitlan exclaimed as she rushed to help Butch, carrying him over to

sit down on the metal floor.

"If you're shocked to see this, you should see the other guy." Butch mustered out. He winced when he finally sat on the metal ground, releasing his hand from his side to show a knife wound that frightened Caitlan.

"Butch! You could've gotten killed." Caitlan said as she looked over the wound, it wasn't that bad enough to indeed kill him, but it was big enough for it to seem that way. She quickly grabbed a first aid kit that she kept just in case they had misfired the BB gun they played with down here. She pulled out some gauze and some disinfectant, pouring it on the gauze and placing it on Butch's side. He winced and breathed in sharply as it stung his nerves.

"I ain't gonna be brought down by some prick like Wall." He said to Caitlan.

"I thought you two were friends?" Caitlan asked.

Butch sighed and looked at Caitlan, "Sometimes when he ain't bein' a huge dick with a pole up his ass. He didn't need to defend Susie, he doesn't really care about her anyway. He don't care much for women, not even his Ma and sis."

"I don't know, he did try to fight you over her." Butch looked at her skeptically.

"You heard this from Daddy's Girl didn't ya?"

Caitlan sighed, "Of course I did, I was waiting here for you for an hour."

Butch smirked, "Aw getting to care for the Butchman?"

Caitlan purposely pressed harder on Butch's wound causing him to cry out in pain, "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." she joked.

"Yeah yeah, I get it." Butch was silent for awhile, even after Caitlan healed his wound for as much as she could. Caitlan stared at him, he looked almost defeated. She gave him a pat on the shoulder and a smile, when he looked at her for awhile and blurted out, "You going to prom?"

Caitlan shook her head, "Nah, I was going to go with Freddie but his long time crush with Christine wanted to go with him so of course I got pushed to the side, it doesn't matter."

"Really? I thought he liked you, I mean he always hung around ya." Butch replied.

"Oh no, Freddie was just very shy, he always hung around one of us no matter what."

"Oh." Butch went silent again, and started playing with his switchblade until he blurted out something Caitlan never had expected, "You wanna go?"

Caitlan's eyes widened, "It's not like I'll have a date, Butch, there's only one guy left and he's…" Caitlan suddenly realized what Butch was insinuating, he was asking her.

"Oh no, come on Butch do you know how weird that would be?" Caitlan asked

"Wow that hurt my feelings Nosebleed." Butch mocked a sad expression.

"Butch!" Caitlan retorted.

"What? I mean you want to hang with your friends there, right? Why not go with me?" Butch asked

"Butch," Caitlan sighed as she placed a hand to her head, "You do realize we meet in secret so no one knows we are nice to each other? You don't think it would be strange for others to see we are acting civil to each other?"

"Umm is the answer no?" Butch asked lighting up a cigarette.

"Doesn't that bother you? To hang out with me in public? Where people will know about our...whatever this is?"

"I don't fucking know, Nosebleed. Look its just one night, Cait, and no one will care afterwards, okay? So I'm going to ask you again: Do you wanna go?"

Caitlan just stared at Butch for a while, she wasn't sure what to feel. Should she be happy? Should she be adamant to spend the night alone? She wasn't sure but finally she gave in, "Okay, alright, I'll go with you, but no funny business."

"What you think I wanna do stuff to you that I've already done with Susie? Nah man, I got ya back."

"Please don't tell me your sexual excursions with Susie, I'd rather be in the dark about that." Caitlan groaned.

"Whatever Nosebleed," Butch side hugged Caitlan, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, "Ya got a hot date."

Caitlan rolled her eyes and smirked at him, "Yeah, I should be so lucky." She replied with heavy sarcasm. "We should probably go."

"Alright Nosebleed, see ya at prom" Butch winked as he left the room first as Caitlan was left alone with her thoughts. Prom with Butch? God, no one would believe her if she said she was going with him, not even herself if she was being honest. He was nice to talk to sure, but a date? Even if it was for one night it was still odd. As far as she was concerned she felt like Butch and Susie should have gone together but alas here she was in this weird situation. It wasn't that bad, Butch could be nice, when he wanted to, and he was better than her old predicament. Plus he wasn't that bad looking, besides his silly hairstyle, he was very handsome, the workings of puberty were such a strange thing. A note pinged on Caitlan's Pip-Boy, it was a message from Amata, she wanted to meet up with Caitlan at the cafeteria with Freddie and Johnny. Caitlan sighed, this was going to be difficult to explain.

* * *

><p>As Caitlan walked into the cafeteria, she saw Amata and the rest of her friends sitting in a booth, waving her over to sit with them. She was calming herself down, she knew Amata would be pissed at her, but she decided to just get this over with. She sat in the seat of the booth right next to Freddie.<p>

"So Caitlan are you going to go to Prom with us?" Johnny asked.

Caitlan rubbed the back of her neck, "I thought you had to bring a date?"

"You do. I thought you were going with Freddie?"

Caitlan looked at Freddie, he looked incredibly guilty, "Actually Freddie has a date with Christine."

Amata looked wide eyed at the both of them, "But how are you going to go to Prom?"

"Well I did find a date.." Caitlan started.

"Really? Who? I mean I'm taken," Johnny said, "So is Freddie, Paul is going with Susie now and Wally ain't going, so that leaves…" That's when everyone's eyes looked as though they'd come out of their sockets, Caitlan just sat there awkwardly, fiddling with her thumbs.

"You can't be serious?" Amata said in disbelief.

"What?" Caitlan replied

"Butch? Really?"

"It's better than Wally." Caitlan mumbled.

"You do realize he could use this to just make fun of you? Caitlan, I'm worried about this." Amata said.

"Amata, really, I'd be more fine with Butch than with Wally. Plus you guys wanted to see me there." Caitlan reassured Amata. Her worried expression faded into a blank one, with the boys also agreeing with Caitlan. She knew it was hard for them to understand, but she knew Butch wouldn't hurt her.

"So do you wanna go dress browsing or no?" Amata said with a smile. Caitlan smiled back, she was happy that Amata understood her, she nodded yes and they headed out to do that. There was a place in the Vault where they kept Pre-War clothing in a pristine closet near the Overseer's office. Only on very special occasions were they allowed to use any of the clothing that wasn't their jumpsuits, and this was one of those occasions. Other occasions included balls and weddings, but there hadn't been such an occasion since Mary Holden married Tom Holden. And here Caitan was looking through the past fashions with awe, the feel of every different fabric and the different colors, it was amazing. Sometimes it was kind of stupid to wear what everyone else was wearing, and blue and yellow were getting pretty old.

"So what do you like?" Amata asked, as she was pulling dresses she wanted to try on.

Caitlan looked through the dresses most of them were not that appealing. Some were too frilly, others to floral, some too long, some too poofy. "I'm not sure, you got anything over there that is not a pastel color?"

"Too washed out?"

"Yeah, I want something bold, and not blue or yellow." Caitlan mockingly ordered Amata. She chuckled as she looked through the dresses.

"So I have to ask, who asked who to prom?" Amata smirked at Caitlan.

"He did." Caitlan replied

"He did? I'm shocked." Amata stated

"You think I'm that quick to grovel for a date?" Caitlan joked.

Amata laughed, "No, either way was equally shocking. Butch asking you over Susie or you asking because you didn't have any other choice."

"I don't know, the former was more likely than the latter." Caitlan replied

"Really? Why?" Amata asked.

"Well I'm not for dating anyone in the Vault my age, and Butch would pretty much ask out any girl with breasts and a pulse, though mine are kind of insignificant compared to Susie. She has a...big personality."

"What do you think Susie is going to do when she finds out you're going with Butch."

Caitlan let out a dry laughter, "You really think I care? It's just for one night."

Amata sighed, "Well she might consider it a threat."

Caitlan looked at her best friend with a skeptical face, "I hardly think that Susie would see me as competition, I mean I ain't as shapely as her, pretty much a stick."

Amata looked at her sympathetically, "Caitlan, you're pretty, don't sell yourself short."

Caitlan smiled, "Thanks Amata, find anything for you?"

"I already did, its a black dress, with a black sheer skirt and white underskirt."

"Oh? No colors?"

"Nope, it's more elegant that way." Amata smiled, "Hey, look at this!"

Amata pulled out a red blouse with off the shoulder sleeves and a black flowing skirt for Caitlan. Curious, Caitlan decided to try it on and was surprised that even through its simple design, it carried a wow factor. she tucked the blouse underneath the skirt and zipped it up. She looked at the skirt to see it was the right length, just above the knee, not too long and not too short.

Amata gasped at the sight of Caitlan, "Caitlan, you look so pretty! You have to get that outfit."

"Really?"

"Mhm, it's perfect." Amata and Caitlan decided upon that outfit and after Caitlan got herself dressed, they walked out with the outfit. Upon leaving Susie crossed paths with Caitlan in the hallway, as they looked at each other Susie seemed quite angry at Caitlan while Caitlan was puzzled. Caitlan sighed, it was going to be a long two days until Prom and it wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

><p>With the days finally passing Caitlan felt weirdly nervous of how Butch would feel about seeing her in a skirt. The school day was going obnoxiously slow, and ever since word had gotten around that Butch and Caitlan were going to prom together, everyone was talking about it behind their backs. The constant whispering behind them was deafening in Caitlan's ears, even her closest friends were talking about it. It made Caitlan go haywire, and as soon as class dismissed she raced out to get to her apartment. She didn't want to be judged by them anymore, as far as she was concerned Butch was a nice young man just misunderstood, but she knew if she said that she'd be betraying Butch's reputation and himself.<p>

"Nosebleed!" She heard Butch yell from across the hallway she was in. He was rushing up to catch her and was slightly out of breath.

"What is it Butch?" She asked impatiently.

"Geez Nosebleed, you don't gotta be so damn rude," Butch lit a cigarette inhaling the smoke, "Look I was just goin' to say to just meet me in the atrium tonight for prom, if that's what makes ya comfortable. I know you're stressed."

"That ain't the half of it." mumbled Caitlan.

"Just be there, okay?" Butch walked towards his and his mother's apartment.

Caitlan watched him leave as she approached the door of her apartment. She entered her room and saw her outfit for prom strewn on her bed where she had placed it that morning. She felt the fabric between her fingertips and inspected the article of clothing. She had also got a pair of black pantyhose and black heels for the occasion as well, nothing too tall she wanted to be able to dance the night away. She sighed in discomfort again, was she really doing this? Going with Butch? It gave her butterflies in her stomach, she was so nervous. But why? She knew Butch wasn't going to hurt her, but everyone else, she was scared of what they were thinking. She sighed and decided to get dressed in these clothes and head down to Old Lady Palmer's for a hair and make-up session, she had been a beautician in the Vault a long time ago and girls still used her guidance for special events. So after she got dressed in her clothes she headed over to Lady Palmer's and knocked on her door. The door swooshed open to the smile of Lady Palmer, "I've been expecting you, Miss Caitlan."

"Thank you, Lady Palmer, for helping me, do you have any suggestions on what I should do?" Lady Palmer inspected Caitlan thoroughly. Her hair was pin straight but had body in it, and it flowed down to her waist. Her face was simple but fair, perfectly structured, and had no physical flaws. Her highlights were her eyes, and their unusual color of gray, they were the cherry on top. Lady Palmer smiled and brought out her tools, "I'm going to do something elegant and natural, you don't need anything too dramatic. I'm going to put your hair up in a bun, after of course I thicken it."

Caitlan nodded, "Sounds good, work your magic."

* * *

><p>Prom had just started and Butch was in the Atrium smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves. He knew Caitlan was stressed out because of this stupid date scenario but it was Susie's fault that this happened. Speaking of when she came in she looked so damn hot, with a tight fitting black lace dress, but had Paul on her side. It disgusted him that she would downgrade to Paul, the little toadie had no balls. She was just trying to make him mad and it was working, cause he missed her body so much and the sight of her in that dress made him quiver with pleasure. He sure did miss placing his hands all over her. He shook his head, he had to stop thinking about her, it would drive him crazy. Christine and Freddie came in shortly after, they made him wanna barf, they were super into each other talking cutsie and...ugh gross. Amata and Johnny had just arrived and they clinged onto each other like an old married couple and they had the balls to approach him.<p>

Butch extinguished his cigarette on the ground as he fixed his suit's jacket, "Whatcha want, Gomez?"

"I was curious as to where is Cait, you seen her yet?" Johnny asked with a huge grin.

"Nah, I told her to meet me here, Gomez."

"Nice to see you out of your leather jacket, DeLoria."

"Yeah yeah gomez I hear ya."

Amata sighed loudly, obviously angered, "Why didn't you just pick her up, Butch? You just like to bully her."

Butch, enraged stepped in front of Amata, "Hey! Watch your mouth, Daddy's girl."

Johnny separated them quickly, "Hey c'mon guys, let's cool it. Both of you."

Butch quickly lit another cigarette and breathed in the smoke, "Ya guys seen her?"

"No, we thought you would have." Johnny said.

"I haven't seen her since school ended today." Butch shrugged.

All of a sudden Amata was heard gasping, "She-She looks beautiful."

Johnny looked to where Amata was facing and his eyes went wide with a large grin, "Yeah she does."

Butch frustrated, decided to see what everyone was looking at, "What the hell are ya talking about?"

And then his mouth hit the floor, it couldn't be her, could it? Caitlan, to be honest, wasn't the prettiest out of the bunch of girls, but she was pretty in her own way. But this was a shock to him, she wasn't Nosebleed, she was Caitlan. Her hair was perfectly done in a bun, and her face was so beautiful it put every girl to shame. Everyone was shocked even Susie was floored, but no one more so than Butch. His eyes softened looking at her, sure she didn't have a skin tight dress but she looked just stunning, enough so to question himself which girl was prettier. He was just in awe, she was so pretty and.._.wait a minute_, Butch thought, _this is Nosebleed, I shouldn't be thinking like this. _Johnny broke him out of his thoughts though, "Well you going to take your date or no DeLoria?" Butch extinguished his cigarette and straightened his suit and walked over to Caitlan who was looking around for him. Surprised to see him, Butch clutched her hand and kissed it softly.

"Nice to see you Miss Nosebleed." He winked and smirked. His confidence washed away whilst looking at her up close. She looked even more beautiful here. His nervousness was consuming him, he felt so weak, it made him sick. She just made him weak by the sight of her, it was frustrating and highly conflicting.

"Mr. DeLoria, you cleaned up nice." Caitlan took this time to examine her date. He was fearfully handsome, even with his hair covered in pomade. He had a hint of aftershave that was a bit overpowering but that suit fit his body so well, Caitlan almost squealed in excitement of how beautiful he was. He looked amazing and it made Caitlan puzzled as to why she was thinking like that. They were friends...barely but this...this felt weird. He placed his arm out for her to grab and Caitlan linked arms with him, making her blush furiously. She could feel all the eyes on her and Butch as they approached Amata and Johnny. She didn't feel comfortable with everyone judging her as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck. That's when Butch took this chance to whisper in her ear, "relax Nosebleed, you're fine."

Amata ran up to Caitlan and said, "Caitlan! You look amazing! No wonder it took a while for you to come by."

Johnny took Caitlan away from Butch and twirled her around, "Whoa girl, you look breathtaking, Cait! Twirl around again I like how your skirt lifts up or whatever." Caitlan rolled her eyes and spun again, this time Butch watched her extensively. He liked how much she glowed and basked in the limelight even though she didn't necessarily like it.

Johnny laughed, "Ah Cait, you're just the envy of all the other girls in the room, save Amata," He winked in his girlfriend's direction, "Whaddya think, Butch?"

Butch, knocked out from his daydreaming, nodded his head quickly, "Yeah sure."

As they were talking, the music in the room started to play softly around them, to which Amata and Johnny took to the middle of the atrium and started to dance with the tempo of the music. Afterwards Susie and Paul joined them and Christine and Freddie afterwards. Butch and Caitlan stood in the sidelines, both too nervous to join them. Caitlan decided to break the silence as they watched the couples dance.

"Interesting isn't it?"

Butch looked over to Caitlan, "What is, Nosebleed?"

"Dancing." Caitlan smiled as she watched Amata and Johnny on the floor laughing and enjoying their time.

"If you say so." Butch replied.

"You ever dance before?" Caitlan asked.

"You think I do in my downtime, Nosebleed?" He joked

"Nah, just wondering." 'It became silent again and Caitlan resorted to watching the dancing couples. Butch on the other hand was enjoying the view right next to him, he couldn't believe how beautiful she looked to him. That black flowing skirt, the red blouse that had off the shoulder sleeves was stunning, he was already seeing more skin from her than he was used to, and she just look so beautiful. He wasn't aware of how long he was staring at her when she interrupted his thoughts.

"Butch, you okay?" She said staring at him with a confused expression. Hey gray eyes melted his heart, they made him weak on his knees he almost collapsed.

"Huh? Oh yeah Nosebleed, Butchman is alright." He laughed nervously.

"Do I look horrible or something?"

"What? No! You look...fine. Good!" He stammered to find the perfect words. He rubbed his neck and tried to avert his eyes away from her. The music was starting to change when Johnny led Amata back to Butch and Caitlan, and grabbed Caitlan's hand.

"C'mon Cait, lets get you on the floor, I have a perfect song to dance to. You got your latin flare going, Chiquitita?"

"Of course Johnny!" Caitlan grabbed his hand, as he swung her around and started to dance to a high paced song and they dance with perfect your accuracy, like they had rehearsed. Butch was stunned by her moves on the dance floor, the sway of her hips the way she twirled around it was like the icing on the cake. She had, in one moment, made him forget all about Susie and drifted his focus on Caitlan. He had never been mesmerized by anyone so strongly and yet it felt so strange and unnatural. After their dancing was over Johnny rushed back to Amata and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Caitlan returned to Butch quite exhausted, with a huge grin.

"That was fun Johnny. Thanks." Caitlan stated

"You're welcome Cait. You dance like a flamenco lady! So much fire! Now if only I could get Amata here to do the same."

"Keep dreaming, I'm not nearly as good as Caitlan." Amata said.

Caitlan laughed as Paul approached Butch, "I see you got twerp to be your date. I gotta say though she looks good."

"Yeah yeah, whateva Paul, why don't you go have fun with Susie, you seem to be interested in her."

"C'mon Butch, I mean if you don't got any use with her later, I could help." Paul winked.

Butch shoved Paul away, "Get the hell outta here Paul."

"Geez Butch I was just joking."

"You heard me. Now go enjoy your sloppy seconds with Susie."

Caitlan overhearing their dispute decided to go over to him, "Something wrong Butch?"

"Nah, he's...he's being Paul."

Caitlan sighed, "Ah I see."

Butch was silent for a moment and then he took Caitlan's right hand, "Wanna dance?"

Caitlan smiled brightly and nodded her head. Butch took her in the middle of the dance floor placing his right hand on her waist and his left hand in her right hand and rocked slowly to a slow moving song. Something about love or whatever, but all Butch could care about was the look on Caitlan's face. As they danced to the music he became more overwhelmed by her very presence. Caitlan felt it too, Butch felt comforting to be around, rather than anyone else in the vault. Even though Amata was her best friend in the vault, she felt more herself with Butch, after all they shared everything together.

"You look beautiful." Butch said interrupting her thoughts.

Caitlan chuckled, "Is that a tease?"

Butch grinned, "You take it as you want Nosebleed, if you want to believe me then you can."

Caitlan twirled around Butch as he spun her back to him, "Thought you didn't know how to dance, Butch."

He grinned again, "Never said that Nosebleed."

"You said you didn't do it in your down time."

"Didn't say I didn't know how to though." The music was slowing, nearing its end, when Butch lifted Caitlan, sweeping her off her feet, "Does this look like I can't?" he said when he placed her on the floor.

"You're a real charmer, DeLoria." She smirked as she approached him til they were nearly touching each other's faces. Butch's face softened as he stared into Caitlan's eyes. The grey depths in her eyes were so lovely and her face was perfect, and it wasn't just her physical appearance, it was her personality as well. She had been with him through everything, and that was enough. He had no one to turn to, he was misunderstood, hell his mother was barely there, but she...she was. He wasn't in control of himself when he nearly leaned in to kiss her, but as soon as the music stopped the applause from the people in the room cleared his head. What was he thinking? As far as he was concerned this was a platonic relationship between them, and yet here she was flooding his mind. It was hard to explain this to himself but somehow he developed feelings for her. Concerned there was no privacy here he leaned over and whispered in Caitlan's ear, "Let's get outta here."

"What, like leave?" Caitlan asked.

"We are just going to be the center of attention here, you want that?"

Caitlan chuckled, "No," she sighed as she looked over to see Amata and Johnny flirting with each other, "I guess Amata won't mind if I leave for a moment."

Butch grinned brightly as they secretly left the atrium to the hallways of the Vault. They talked for awhile, about them, about school, and also themselves. Just their regular small talk, and it was perfect. Just the two of them talking, and taking the small moment with themselves seriously.

* * *

><p>Susie watched them leave, they thought they were leaving secretly but she knew they left. She felt regret when she told Butch off two days ago, she didn't mean what she said to him, she just wanted to send him a message. She liked him, hell she loved him, he was exciting and dangerous, plus incredibly handsome. But now while she watched him with Caitlan, she saw something in Butch's eyes that she had never seen before when he looked at Caitlan. Adoration. He seemed so happy and for once she saw him break out of his shell, and although she wanted Butch back, he seemed happy, and though many people thought of her as a heartless person, Susie felt like she didn't want to ruin Butch anymore. And seeing the way Paul was treating her, with his kindness and selflessness, she felt like she had outgrown Butch. She was finally done with that point in her life.<p>

"Paul" She said.

Paul, who was sipping from a flask he stowed in his suit, "Yeah, Susie."

She smiled at him and took his hand, "Let's dance."

* * *

><p>James was up late running tests on the water supplies. It had become increasingly easier to practice his tests and samples of the Vault's water supplies since Caitlan had moved into her own apartment, preparing for her eventual beginning of her life as a Marriage Counselor. James shook his head, he knew Caitlan wouldn't really like it, but after all of this nonsense she'd be the next Vault Physician, he knew she would be, she was the only one with medical experience. However this new rule of this arranging marriages was infuriating, in his own mind there was no man that could truly have his daughter, plus the selection was scarce if anything and there wasn't a lot of good young men in the vault. As he was looking through his microscope and heard a series of young teenagers laughing. James looked out his doorway and was shocked to see his daughter and Butch DeLoria having a conversation with each other and smiling? No teasing? No bullying? No harassing? Just intelligent conversation? It seemed impossible and yet here it was in front of him. He had heard that Caitlan was going with Butch to Prom, and the thought was scary. A bully asking his daughter to Prom was sketchy, but from what he was seeing it was quite the opposite of what he thought would happen. He was being polite and gentlemanly, while also cracking jokes and gloating like Butch would always do. A lot of the residents thought Butch was a menace, but James said different. He grew up with a difficult past and needed a chance to show he was worth it, and here was his daughter showing that to the world. Caitlan had a tender heart like her mother, and it was evident here most definitely, giving a young man like him a chance. He smiled and gave one last look at the couple before returning to his work.<p>

* * *

><p>Caitlan and Butch must've walked around for an hour or so when Caitlan was starting to get tired and sleepy. The day had gone so fast yet she hadn't notice, with Butch to talk to it was rather entertaining.<p>

Caitlan started to yawn, when Butch commented, "You tired, Nosebleed?"

Caitlan nodded, "Yeah, I should get back to my apartment."

"I could take you back, ya know walk you there."

Caitlan shook her head, "No Butch, I'm okay." She leaned over and kissed Butch on his cheek as he blushed furiously. "Goodnight, and thank you."

As Caitlan walked away, Butch started making his way to his and his Ma's apartment with a feeling of glee.

Caitlan was approaching her apartment, her smile creeped across her face. She felt so happy, this night wasn't a disaster after all. He was kind and sweet, while still being Butch and she felt so happy being with him tonight. She couldn't help but think of him when she was starting to open the door, when she was thrown on the floor, twisting her ankle badly causing her to whimper. When she looked up she saw a man in a Tunnel Snakes jacket towering over her body.

"Hello twerp," Wally said menacingly, "Had fun tonight?"

"What's it to you, Mack?" Caitlan asked with an enraged expression on her face.

"I'm just wondering, since of course you got Butch to leave Susie for the likes of you."

Caitlan spat on Wally's shoes, "Go fuck yourself, Mack, I didn't do shit to you or your sister."

Furious, Wally grabbed Caitlan on the shoulders and slammed her body on the wall.

"You know I'm not supposed to touch you, hell I'm not supposed to even hurt you. Butch's orders you know. But you know you're looking so nice," Wally began to lift Caitlan's skirt with his hand running his hands on her upper thighs, "I'd hate to let your body go to waste."

Caitlan quickly kneed him in the gut and slapped his face, and without thinking about it she yelled for help, "BUTCH! HELP ME!" as she turned to face Wally he sucker punched her in the stomach and tossed her on the ground. He proceeded to stomp on her legs and torso, and finally kicked her in the head, effectively knocking her out. Before he could lay another hand on her, a fist met Wally's face and he was slammed into the wall. As he faced his aggressor he was shocked to see Butch's irate face. His eyes lighting up in the fuel of his anger, and his skin went blood red.

"Keep yo hands off of Nosebleed! She's mine to torment!" He yelled

"Oh really? When's the last time you ever hit her? Her tenth birthday? Or even earlier? Face it Butch you're just weak for her. A big ass pussy."

Butch punched Wally in the face again, "I won't ask you again, keep the fuck away from Caitlan!"

Wally started laughing, "Since when did you start using her name? When you went to your 'alone time' with her in the Reactor?"

Butch's eyes widened, how the hell did he know?

He laughed again, "Yeah thought it was some big secret, huh? Well you're wrong I've known since after the G.O.A.T., and even then I knew there was something between you two. Whaddya like to do with her, Butch? Have a quickie? She suck your dick, is that why you like her, does she put out?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Butch drew out his switchblade as Wally did the same. "WHEN I MAKE ORDERS I EXPECT YOU TO FOLLOW THEM, WALL!"

"Face it Butch. I'm done with you and the Tunnel Snakes. You can go have fun flogging your log at this floosie, cause I'll be here for her everyday, and I'll get what I want from her you'll see." Wally was about to strike Butch when Caitlan tazed his neck to knock him out. She was beginning to fall on the ground when Butch caught her in his arms.

"Cait! Are you okay?" He asked.

Caitlan was dazed but she was fine, "I'm alright Butch, I need help standing though."

Butch steadied Caitlan's body by wrapping her arm over his shoulder, but as soon as she put pressure on her she shrieked in pain, "Ah! Dammit!". Butch with an extremely worried expression asked her immediately what was wrong. "I think he may have broken my ankle."

Butch without thinking, swept Caitlan's legs up in his arms, and carried her with ease. "Don't worry Cait, I've got ya."

Caitlan looked into his eyes, "Boy do you ever."

Butch looked at her with soft eyes, "We need to get you to your dad, he'll find out what's wrong."

Rushing to get to the clinic, Butch finally made it, with Caitlan's father looking like he was prepared to leave.

"Doc! Please, she needs help." Butch said to him. James' eyes went wide with terror and hurriedly cleared off the medical table in the center of the room. Butch settled Caitlan down carefully on the table and looked at her face extensively. He saw a big bruise on the top of her head and the rest of her body was covered in bruises. Butch shook his head, he should have taken her home. Caitlan touched his face gently, and whispered, "It's not your fault, Butch. We didn't see it coming." James approached his daughter and looked her over.

"How did this happen?" James inquired.

"Wally Mack, he tried to...do things to me." Caitlan looked away, obviously ashamed.

"And why didn't you stop it?" James asked Butch.

"He and I had just said goodnight, I decided to walk myself back home. That's where he was. Butch saved me" Caitlan said

"I see," James turned to Butch, "I suppose I should thank you, son. Now I need to look over my daughter, so if you don't mind." Butch nodded and waved goodbye to Caitlan. She waved back as he finally disappeared into the darkness.


End file.
